Interview about Sirocco Speaker, winner of the A' Audio and Sound Equipment Design Award 2024
Sirocco is a multifunctional speaker, whose design is inspired by Chinese lanterns. It is bold and innovative in structure. Through the unique honeycomb structure design, it further conducts and diffuses the sound, thereby further enhancing the user experience and music quality, and bringing users a different use experience and visual experience. It is also foldable, and the shell of the speaker is storable and modular, with a variety of shell shapes, which can be replaced at any time according to the user's mood and home environment.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsChinese lanterns generally have a relatively regular geometric shape, the most common of which is circular. Designing the speaker to resemble a lantern, the circular lantern shape can provide 360-degree sound diffusion. From the acoustic principle, the circular shell can reduce the directionality of sound reflection, allowing the sound to spread more evenly in all directions, just like water waves spreading from the center of the circle to the surroundings. This is different from the way traditional speakers sound from the front, and can create a more immersive sound environment. Chinese lanterns usually have multiple layers and frames. In design, this multi-layer structure can be used to control acoustic resonance. Multiple layers of support structures similar to the lantern frame are set inside the speaker, and the materials and spacing of these structures can be carefully selected. When the sound propagates inside the speaker, these support structures will interact with the sound waves, and they can absorb sound waves of specific frequencies and reduce harmful resonances.
The size and shape of the honeycomb unit will directly affect the propagation and diffusion of sound. Smaller honeycomb units can increase the scattering of sound, make the sound more evenly distributed in the space, reduce the directivity of the sound, and thus create a wider sound field. When designing the honeycomb structure of the speaker, we pay attention to showing its exquisite craftsmanship details and high-quality manufacturing process. The high-precision processing technology is used to make the edges of the honeycomb unit smooth and neat, and the splicing is tight and seamless, showing the exquisiteness and reliability of the product.
Foldable speakers need to be folded and unfolded frequently, which is a huge test for the durability of the folding mechanism. The folding mechanism is prone to wear and looseness, so materials with good elasticity and recovery are finally selected to make the shell and foldable parts. If the connection between the modules is not sealed well, it may cause sound leakage, reducing the efficiency and quality of the sound. For modular connection, a simple and easy-to-understand magnetic connection method is adopted. The magnetic connection is convenient and fast, and users only need to bring the modules close to automatically absorb and connect.
Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the aesthetic concepts of simplicity and harmony, and pays attention to the unity of form and function in design. The simple operation method of the retro horizontal slide control is consistent with this cultural concept. It avoids complicated buttons and menus, and controls the speaker in an intuitive and concise way, reflecting the pursuit of simple aesthetics in traditional culture in modern design.Retro design elements can often evoke people's nostalgic emotions and let users recall the good old days. For some users, this retro horizontal slide control may remind them of the old audio equipment they used to use, thus creating a feeling of intimacy and warmth. This emotional resonance can enhance users' love and recognition of the product, so that users can not only get auditory enjoyment but also emotional satisfaction during use.
The design of the Sirocco speaker may be inspired by the aesthetics of Chinese lanterns. The natural texture and color of wood materials can add a unique texture and visual appeal to the speaker, making it more in line with the overall design style and aesthetic concept. The simple and regular geometric shape of the honeycomb structure not only has advantages in acoustics, but also presents a sense of modernity and technology in appearance, which blends with the natural feel of wood materials to form a unique visual effect and meet users' needs for product beauty.
Initially, inspired by the trend of customizable and multifunctional products, and taking into account the limitations of traditional speaker housings in different usage scenarios, the concept of a modular housing system was proposed, hoping to create a speaker that can be flexibly adjusted according to user needs and environmental changes. During the design process, the first problem to be solved was the connection method between modules to ensure that the connection was stable and convenient for users to operate. After repeated testing and improvement of various connection methods such as magnetic, snap-on and slot-on, a hybrid connection method combining magnetic and snap-on was finally selected. In order to ensure acoustic performance, a large number of acoustic simulations and experiments were conducted to study the effects of different module shapes, sizes and materials on sound, and modules with different reflection angles and sound absorption characteristics were designed.
The award of Sirocco loudspeaker proves that it is feasible and has potential to integrate cultural elements with contemporary audio technology. Its success provides a reference and example for other audio products in design, encouraging more designers and manufacturers to try to integrate different cultural elements into audio products, break the limitations of traditional design, and create products with more uniqueness and cultural connotations. This award affirms the value of innovatively integrating cultural elements and audio technology in product design. This is not only reflected in the appearance design, but also includes comprehensive considerations of functions, user experience, etc. This makes the industry pay more attention to the innovation driving force brought by this integration, and encourages companies to invest more resources in exploration and experimentation during the research and development process to enhance the competitiveness of their products.
During the test, users reported that the diffusion effect of sound is very important in different spatial environments. Many users mentioned that the acoustic environment in different rooms, such as bedrooms and study rooms, varies greatly. Some rooms have good sound absorption, while others are prone to echo. Through testing the actual acoustic environment in users' homes, it was found that different shell modules can be replaced to have certain sound absorption or reflection adjustment functions, which will greatly improve the acoustic performance of the speaker in various environments.
The design of cultural integration can make users feel emotional resonance when using the speaker, and feel the cultural atmosphere that they are familiar with and like, thereby increasing their sense of identity and loyalty to the product. Sirocco speakers incorporate Chinese lantern cultural elements into their design, bringing unique aesthetic value to the product. In the future, more cultural elements will be explored and applied to speaker design. The cultures of different regions and ethnic groups can all become sources of design inspiration, such as Nordic minimalist style, African primitive art style, Japanese Zen style, etc., making the speaker not only an audio device, but also a decoration with cultural connotations and artistic value, which can be better integrated into various home and living environments to meet users' pursuit of product aesthetics.
Based on the traditional lantern, Sirocco speakers have been modernized by using simple lines, geometric shapes and modern materials, which not only retains the essence of traditional culture but also conforms to the aesthetic concepts of modern consumers. Designers should not simply copy traditional cultural elements, but simplify, abstract, and deform them according to modern design concepts and the preferences of the target audience to make them more fashionable and technological.
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