Offecct, part of the Flokk house of brands, won the award for their sound-absorbing room divider, designed by Andrea Ruggiero
2 min read
Founded in 1950 by Eero Saarinen and Charles & Ray Eames, the emphasis of the GOOD DESIGN program is on quality design of the highest form, function and aesthetics of a standard beyond ordinary consumer products and graphics. The Chicago Athenaeum’s GOOD DESIGN program forwards the ideals of a design process that embodies product excellence, endurance and strong public identity.
In 2017 Italian/Hungarian designer Andrea Ruggiero was invited to Offecct to find a way of turning waste material into a high performing commercial product. After two years of trials, Ruggerio and Offecct launched the sound-absorbing room divider Soundsticks, an acoustic product created with leftover textile fabric from Offecct’s production of upholstery furniture.
‘This project evolved through numerous discussions and a variety of attempts to find new ways to manage acoustics in modern environments. Soundsticks are an innovative concept for a room divider that help to reduce unwanted noise in public spaces and open-plan office environments,’ says Andrea.
To create the dividers, textile scraps are moulded into the shape of a tube and then upholstered with leftover fabric. The ends are sealed with caps of casted recycled aluminium.
The concept for Soundsticks is based on using leftover fabric from Offecct’s production in Tibro. The tubes are sealed by specially developed caps cast from recycled aluminium, so no glue is needed. Every installation is unique, due to the colours available in the stock of left-over fabrics.
Soundsticks are suspended from the ceiling on a rail in either straight or curved configurations. Suspended at different heights as a group or in a line, Soundsticks offer endless possibilities for creating ambience and providing users with creative environments. Acoustics can be balanced by the number of Soundsticks used.
When Soundsticks are hung in a random sequence in one of four colour scales, an unobtrusive yet captivating camouflage pattern emerges that reminds us how beautiful recycling and upcycling can be.
‘I am delighted that we managed to take Soundsticks from a challenging idea to a commercial product,’ says Anders Englund, Design Manager at Offecct.
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