Bang & Olufsen unveils its new Beosound A5 portable speaker, designed by Copenhagen-based, Danish-Italian architecture studio GamFratesi. Founders Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi were already very familiar with Bang & Olufsen and
its close connections to the design industry when the legendary audio brand invited them to collaborate on the special-edition portable Bluetooth speaker.
GamFratesi for Bang & Olufsen: Beosound A5
Enrico Fratesi and Stine Gam with a Nordic Weave Beosound A5 speaker and the duo’s ‘Romby’ chair for Porro
The designers’ light-filled studio, in Østerbro, is filled with prototypes and maquettes of recent work, including bentwood and rattan seating for Gebrüder Thonet, and the acclaimed ‘Beetle’ chair for Gubi, and the pair set about combining their ongoing material experimentations with a reverential look at Bang & Olufsen’s impressive archives.
For Fratesi, the audio brand represents one of the touchstones of modern Danish design. ‘They have been so innovative, they create with simplicity, and their work is always of such high quality,’ he says.
For the speaker’s design, GamFratesi experimented with materials such as paper fibre, woven in different patterns, and took inspiration from archival Bang & Olufsen pieces, such as the Beolit 607 portable radio from 1961
Bang & Olufsen is no stranger to design collaborations, previously pairing up with the likes of Cecilie Manz, Michael Anastassiades and Layer. GamFratesi’s Beosound A5 speaker expands on the collaborative process and is available in two distinct colourways, Nordic Weave and Dark Oak. The former pairs aluminium with a woven paper fibre front panel and a light oak handle, while the latter uses black anthracite aluminium for the top and bottom, with dark oak for the speaker cover and handle.
‘We have a deep respect for the history and DNA of whoever we’re working with,’ says Fratesi. ‘We like to think about how to bring a brand with a rich tradition into the future.’ This collaboration involved delving into Bang & Olufsen’s extensive archives at its Jutland HQ. Key reference pieces included the Beolit 607 portable radio from 1961, and the Jacob Jensen-designed Beolit 800 and Beolit 1000 from the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the distinctive teak finish that gives the era’s hi-fi such a warm, contemporary feel.
The Beosound A5 portable speaker in Dark Oak alongside prototype materials and an inspirational Jacob Jensen-designed Beolit 800 portable radio from the 1960s
While the recent Beosound Level drew on the linear aesthetic of the 800 and 1000, the Beosound A5 takes a more curvaceous route, an extruded pill-shape with a flat silicone top incorporating a wireless charging pad and a steam-bent wooden handle that tapers to meet the aluminium hinges at each end.
The primary finishes give the Beosound A5 two very different characters (‘being two people, we often picture two directions while working in the same universe,’ says Fratesi). Gam describes the knitted paper fibre of Nordic Weave as being ‘light, summery and feminine. Because it’s knitted like a textile, it works well for the transmission of music. The more challenging part was to control a material that was so alive.’ Many different weaves and colour ways were trialled to create the most elegant, durable and acoustically sound finish. The Dark Oak model uses a 3mm veneer to create a ‘solidity [that] still reads as wood on its edges’, according to Fratesi.
Enrico Fratesi and Stine Gam
The Beosound A5 exemplifies Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to longevity and futureproofing. ‘We’ve seen that consumer electronics are lasting for shorter and shorter lifecycles, and we are looking into lowering the barriers for consumers of the future to keep their products for longer. Of course, quality plays a part, but we are talking about emotional durability, too,’ says Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, Bang & Olufsen’s senior global product manager for classics and product circularity. Hansen initiated the brand’s Cradle to Cradle initiative, which specifies that a Beosound A5 should have a minimum ten-year lifecycle, after which it can be upgraded should tech specs have changed. The rechargeable battery is accessible and front panels can be removed, not just for repairs and maintenance, but to change the A5’s appearance with new materials.
‘We’re interested in how pieces interact with their spaces,’ says Fratesi. ‘We didn’t just think about the speaker in terms of shape and proportion, but about how it would look on a table or shelf, and how it would communicate a feeling into your home.’
Beosound A5 in Nordic Weave, €999/$1,049; in Dark Oak, €1,099/$1,149, both by GamFratesi, for Bang & Olufsen
bang-olufsen.com
gamfratesi.com
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