Dead oak tree returns to life as sound sculptures, musical instruments, and playable records by artist Steve Parker. On display in an exhibition named Funeral for a Tree, the project began when a 65-year-old live oak tree in the artist’s yard died from oak wilt, a disease that slowly kills trees. Instead of removing the tree and moving on, Steve Parker chose to listen to it by transforming the oak tree into sound sculptures, allowing the tree to perform its own memorial. At the heart of the exhibition are the wood cookies, which are round slices cut from the oak’s trunk. 

The artist carefully turned them into playable records, similar to vinyl records, and each wooden record is engraved with recordings of migratory birdsong. These are sounds from bird species that once rested in the oak during different seasons of its life. When placed on a custom-made wooden turntable, the records spin and play, letting the tree remember the life it once supported.

all images courtesy of Ivester Contemporary and Steve Parker

Other instruments include medical breathing bags and brass

The records shown in the exhibition are made directly from the tree itself, and as the wood continues to dry over time, it naturally cracks and changes shape. This affects the sound quality, causing the music to fade, distort, or fill with static. The artist allows this to happen instead of fixing it, so in this way, the sound slowly disappears, just like memories change over time. Sound in the exhibition is also shaped by the sheng, a traditional Chinese mouth organ linked to ideas of rebirth and the phoenix. Sheng musician Jipo Yang performs the birdsongs, and throughout the gallery, sheng instruments appear in many forms. Some are played live, while others are connected to machines like ventilators and CPAP devices. These machines gently push air through the instruments, giving them breath. 

Other sound sculptures fill the space as well, still made of recycled oak tree. One includes a live oak branch connected to a camshaft that slowly moves and brushes against a wind chime. Another features a large bass drum covered in wood shavings. When birdsong plays, the shavings gently shake, making the sound visible as well as audible. There are also abstract turntables fitted with horn speakers, turning sound into something you can feel in the room. There’s even a plant-like instrument made from salvaged brass, medical breathing bags, and sheng reeds. It looks part machine, part organism, and each performance rearranges and activates the sculptures in new ways. The exhibition Funeral for a Tree by artist Steve Parker was shown at the art gallery Ivester Contemporary between November 29th, 2025 and January 10th, 2026.

at the heart of the exhibition are the wood cookies, which are round slices cut from the oak’s trunk

detailed view of the playable records

view of the turntable made from oak tree

exhibition view

there’s even a plant-like instrument made from salvaged brass, medical breathing bags, and sheng reeds

detailed view of the musical instruments

other sound sculptures fill the space as well, still made of recycled oak tree

the sound sculptures shown in the exhibition are made directly from the tree itself

exhibition view at Ivester Contemporary

project info:

name: Funeral for a Tree

artist: Steve Parker | @steveparker

gallery: Ivester Contemporary | @ivester_contemporary

The post dead oak tree comes back to life as sound sculptures and playable records appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Cappella del Suono is a small-scale architectural installation located in the grain fields of Italy’s Marche region. Positioned on a hillside, the pavilion is designed as a lightweight wooden structure that maintains a close relationship with its surrounding landscape. Developed by Studio Carraldo, the project was realized independently in the summer of 2025 after being selected as the winning entry of the Festival di Microarchitettura. The pavilion is also among the twelve nominated projects for the Klimahouse Wood Architecture Prize 2025.

The structure is composed of a regular grid of vertical wooden slats that define the spatial enclosure while remaining visually permeable. The slats are suspended at varying lengths, forming an irregular lower edge that softens the boundary between architecture and landscape. Perforations integrated at the ends of selected elements introduce an acoustic dimension, allowing the pavilion to respond to wind conditions. As air moves through the structure, the wooden components interact to produce layered sound effects, which vary in intensity depending on wind strength and direction. Under certain conditions, the sound recalls the distant bells of the nearby Convento di Monte Illuminato.

all images by Jonas Zauels

Studio Carraldo’s Pavilion is Defined by Light and Landscape

Light and shadow play a central role in shaping the spatial experience. The open arrangement of the slats allows sunlight to pass through the structure, creating changing patterns throughout the day and reinforcing the pavilion’s temporal and environmental responsiveness. Structurally, the installation rests on slender vertical supports anchored directly into the ground, minimizing impact on the site and reinforcing the project’s temporary character. Studio Carraldo’s material choices further support this approach. The use of untreated wood allows the structure to weather naturally and visually integrate with the surrounding grain fields. Rather than asserting itself as an object, the pavilion maintains a low visual profile and reads as an architectural extension of the landscape.

Cappella del Suono is conceived as a permeable architectural space, defined enough to establish a place while remaining open to environmental forces. A built-in bench extends from the interior toward the exterior, supporting different modes of occupation and allowing visitors to engage with the pavilion through rest, observation, and listening.

participation with a local piano maker from Lunano

when the wind is calm, the Cappella del Suono reads like a monolith

dynamic interplay of light, shadow, and transparency

the structure appears to grow directly out of the surrounding grain fields

in interaction with the wind, the structure comes alive

the bench encourages resting and experiencing the surrounding field of slats

through varying lengths and precise perforations, the slats create a layered acoustic effect

the sound slats are suspended by delicate threads, letting them sway freely in the wind

the pavilion creates an permeable architectural space open to environmental forces

project info:

name: Cappella del Suono

architect: Studio Carraldo | @studio.carraldo
design team: Franka Ruhnau, Jonas Rosenfelder, Luis Navarro, Valentin Fick, David Zauels
location: Marche, Italy

photographer: Jonas Zauels | @blackbvrds

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post wind activates pavilion’s permeable wooden grid producing layered soundscapes appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

La Mécanique de Noël is a 20-meter interactive installation designed by Hellène Gaulier and Gwénolé Gasnier of Agence GG for the refectory of Fontevraud Abbey, in France. Conceived as a large communal table, the project explores the sensory and mechanical dimensions of festive gatherings through an assemblage of interactive devices, blown glass elements, lighting, sound, and scent.

The installation draws reference from both lived and imagined Christmas meals, translating familiar rituals into a spatial and mechanical composition. Rather than focusing solely on food, the table incorporates the broader environment of a festive dinner, including decoration, movement, sound, and atmosphere. A series of mechanical systems animates glass objects, triggers light sequences, and releases scents, creating a layered sensory experience distributed along the length of the table.

Visitors are invited to engage directly with the installation through buttons, levers, and handles embedded within the structure. These controls activate different elements of the table, producing variations in sound, light, and motion. The interaction introduces unpredictability, allowing the environment to shift continuously as multiple participants contribute to the sequence of events. The installation thus operates as a collective mechanism, shaped in real time by visitor participation.

blow a name into the microphone to light a candle | all images courtesy of Agence GG

Blown Glass and Mechanics adorn the festive table by Agence GG

Set within the historic context of Fontevraud Abbey, the project establishes a dialogue between contemporary mechanical design and the architectural setting of the refectory. References to traditional winter imagery, such as fireplaces, festive lighting, and ceremonial table settings, are abstracted into mechanical and sensory cues rather than literal scenography. Blown glass components play a central role, functioning as both decorative and interactive elements within the system.

Developed by Hellène Gaulier and Gwénolé Gasnier of Studio Agence GG in collaboration with the Abbey of Fontevraud and the CIAV of Meisenthal, the project is the result of a year-long process involving partners across several regions of France. By combining mechanics, glassmaking, and interactive design, La Mécanique de Noël constructs an immersive environment that examines collective rituals through participation, material experimentation, and controlled sensory complexity.

overview of the 20-meter table in the heart of the refectory of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud

blown glass Snowstorm to be operated with cranks

grilled chicken odor diffusion device

crane for micro glass fly feast

blown glass Snowstorm to be operated with cranks

sand lock carafe, making life gluttonous

machine to toast glasses

take a seat to put on the suit

Hellène Gaulier and Gwénolé Gasnier of Agence GG with La Mécanique de Noël Christmas table

project info:

name: La Mécanique de Noël – Interactive Christmas Table
designer: Agence GG | @agencegg
lead designers: Hellène Gaulier & Gwénolé Gasnier

location: Fontevraud-l’Abbaye, France

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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New York’s Cooper Hewitt exhibits the experimental sound art of designer Devon Turnbull with its newly opened installation, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3. The show sees a gallery within the museum’s historic Carnegie Library transformed into a dedicated space for deep listening. On view through July 19th, 2026, Turnbull’s large-scale, handmade audio system signals the museum’s broader engagement with sound through Art of Noise, an exhibition organized by SFMOMA.

Turnbull, known under the name OJAS, approaches audio engineering as a design practice grounded in craft and long-term experimentation. His systems appear as monolithic objects that express their weight and invite attention even in silence. Here, sound fills the gallery evenly, and encourage stillness and sustained focus among visitors.

The installation arrives alongside a growing cultural interest in attentive listening, a subject about which Turnbull wrote in the foreword to Jazz Kissa: The Soul of Japanese Listening Culture, published by ERG Media. The book, by photographer Katsumasa Kusunose, documents Japan’s jazz cafés, spaces devoted to focused, communal listening.

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Within Cooper Hewitt, artist Devon Turnbull tailors the listening room to the architectural character of Andrew Carnegie’s former library. Turnbull developed custom speaker sculptures that respond directly to the existing millwork and rhythm of the space, creating a close relationship between historic interior details and contemporary fabrication. The scale of this iteration exceeds earlier versions, allowing sound to circulate with a controlled sense of depth and presence.

Seating by USM Modular Furniture and textiles by Kvadrat complete the environment, offering comfort while maintaining visual restraint. Materials remain legible and direct, allowing the audio system to lead the experience. The room operates as a functional interior rather than a display stage, with every element tuned toward sustained listening and shared attention.

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

The exhibition forms part of a lineage of listening rooms developed by Devon Turnbull since 2022, following presentations in New York, London, and San Francisco. At Cooper Hewitt, the installation becomes the most architecturally and acoustically integrated version to date, shaped for daily use through an active program of music sessions. Live guest operators, including Turnbull alongside musicians, archivists, and collectors, guide listening experiences several days each week.

Outside of these sessions, rotating playlists selected by Turnbull structure the room’s rhythm across the week, moving through classical, ambient, jazz, and mixed genres depending on the day. Music functions here as both content and medium and revealing how sound interacts with space, furniture, and collective presence. Through HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt frames listening as a design act.

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

Devon Turnbull, HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2025; courtesy Devon Turnbull/Lisson Gallery; photo: Mark Waldhauser

project info:

name: HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3

artist: Devon Turnbull | @devonojas

museum: Cooper Hewitt | @cooperhewitt

location: New York, NY

seating: USM Modular Furniture | @usmmodularfurniture

textiles: Kvadrat | @kvadrattextiles

dates: December 12th, 2025 — July 19th, 2026

photography: © Mark Waldhauser

The post devon turnbull transforms cooper hewitt gallery into handcrafted listening room appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Deep in the coastal Douglas-fir forest of Hornby Island, home to the rarest and most fragile ecosystems in Canada, art and design studio Daily tous les jours installs Forest Mixer, an artwork that turns spoken messages into evolving harmonies, vibrations, and finally a kind of sonic mulch. Conceived by founders Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat as an encounter with the living systems of the forest, the piece translates human presence into an acoustic cycle of growth and decay, echoing how trees, soil, and fungi exchange information beneath the forest floor.

Visitors begin at a low-set microphone, intentionally positioned for accessibility, where they release short spoken messages into the installation. These phrases stretch into harmonies, then slowly turn into crumbling, mulch-like sounds. In the final stage, low-frequency pulses can be felt as vibrations through a platform by sitting, standing, lying down, or simply touching it with a hand.

As participants move along soft mulch pathways, the work positions their bodies inside the sensory field of the forest, composed of the scents of cedar and spruce, the crackle of needles, and the chorus of tree frogs, sea lions, owls, finches, and woodpeckers. 

all images by Ramble Films, Olivier Blouin and Étienne Lacelle

a ritual of sound, care, and ecological attention in canada

Installed among towering red cedars and Sitka spruce, Forest Mixer operates as a playful experiment that releases a voice, watches it transform, and feels it dissolve into vibration. It creates space for catharsis and curiosity, grounding participants in the material logic of the forest.

The installation extends Daily tous les jours’ fifteen-year exploration of shared public experience into the realm of interspecies connection. After previous collaborations with biologist Luc-Alain Giraldeau and research into cooperative behaviors, the studio began looking at the forest as an active collaborator. Preliminary studies suggesting that soil organisms and fungi may respond to sound and vibration became an unexpected point of departure.

The work is an attempt to shape a sensory system that mirrors the cycles of communication, renewal, and decay of the forest. As the Montreal-based studio notes, ‘Forests, in their constant flux, remind us that what we experience today may not be there tomorrow. They show us how life thrives in chorus.’

Daily tous les jours installs Forest Mixer deep in the coastal Douglas-fir forest of Hornby Island

conceived as an encounter with the living systems of the forest

the piece translates human presence into an acoustic cycle of growth and decay

echoing how trees, soil, and fungi exchange information beneath the forest floor

the work positions visitor’s bodies inside the sensory field of the forest

visitors begin at a low-set microphone

in the final stage, low-frequency pulses can be felt as vibrations through a platform

Forest Mixer operates as a playful experiment

the installation releases a voice, watches it transform, and feels it dissolve into vibration

it creates space for catharsis and curiosity

grounding participants in the material logic of the forest

the installation extends Daily tous les jours’ exploration into the realm of interspecies connection

the studio began looking at the forest as an active collaborator

the work is an attempt to shape a sensory system that mirrors the cycles of the forest

project info:

name: Forest Mixer

artist: Daily tous les jours | @dailytlj

location: Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada

commissioner: Jennifer Ouano

industrial design: SSSVLL | @sssvll

photographer and short film director: Ramble Films | @ramblefilms

The post daily tous les jours’ installation attunes human voices to forest ecologies in canada appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

MusiCubes comprises musical wooden cubes that produce instrumental sounds when placed on the smart vinyl-like board. Built with RFID technology, the surface reads the individually handcrafted cube and plays a sound, loop, effect, or recording as a way to give users a screen-free tool to make music. The device is based on a technology called TuneTouch, which uses passive RFID tags. Each musical wooden cube contains one RFID tag, holding information about the type of instrument or sound the block has. When the cube touches the tablet surface, the vinyl-like board detects the RFID signal and plays a sound or activates a function with low delay. 

The detection works in real time, so users hear the result as soon as the cube moves, and the system needs no cables, no buttons, and no screens. The design of MusiCubes focuses on direct physical use, so users don’t tap icons or menus. Instead, they place cubes on the tablet surface. If they want to stop the music, they just remove the musical wooden cubes from the smart vinyl board. This is where the users play with their creativity because they can mix and match the cubes until they produce the kind of music they like.

all images courtesy of MusiCubes

Smart vinyl board ‘reads’ the musical wooden cubes

MusiCubes has four main cube types.  The first one is the Loop cubes, which has one rhythm pattern or one melodic sound. When a Loop cube is placed on the tablet, the loop begins. The second set is for recording, or to activate the recording mode, in case the users want to register the production. Users can capture layers from Loop cubes or from live input, and when the Recording cube is removed, the recording stops. Then, there’s the series of Mic cubes for the microphone input. With these musical wooden cubes, the smart vinyl board records the users as they sing, beatbox, or record other instruments, adding a personal touch to their track.

The last is the Control cubes, which can change the audio settings. Here, users can adjust the volume, tempo, mix levels, equalizer settings, or effects of the music they’re producing, such as reverb, echo, or repeat. The RFID tag tells the tablet which parameter to adjust, and moving the cubes means applying changes to the current sound. MusiCubes works without a screen, internet, or software installation since the musical wooden cubes and smart vinyl board are fully physical. The team, comprising Hayri C. Bulman and Andy Keimach, states that future versions may support connectivity, but the current one is a stand-alone device. The device includes a library of loops, melodies, and effects that can be combined in many ways, allowing users to create long tracks, short patterns, or simple sound tests. So far, there’s no official release date for MusiCubes, but the team says that they’re launching it soon.

the surface reads the individually handcrafted cube and plays a sound

each block corresponds to a respective sound

there are several types or categories of music and function that each cube can operate

the images on the cube indicate the kind of sound to be played

the device is based on a technology called TuneTouch, which uses uses passive RFID tags

view of the vinyl- like board

project info:

name: MusiCubes

team: Hayri C. Bulman, Andy Keimach

The post musical wooden cubes produce instrumental sounds when placed on smart vinyl-like board appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, Telekom Electronic Beats in collaboration with Kalkul hosted the European premiere of Erykah Badu’s sound meditation at the Reethaus in Berlin. The Monday Ceremony offered a rare proximity to the American neo soul singer in a space known for its contemplative architecture of concrete, glass, and reed. Designed by Austrian architect Monika Gogl as an homage to ancient temples, caves and other natural hollow spaces, the Reethaus provided a unique setting for the global icon.

The exclusive ritual, initially unveiled on the Kalkul Rooftop in Tokyo, was limited to just 25 guests per session. Through high-resolution Audio-Technica headphones, guests experienced a 30-minute listening session lying on floor mats, immersed in sound, connection, and focus. Badu guided participants through fragments from her personal archive, unreleased material from her upcoming album, and spontaneous improvisations. The session was a conscious, small, raw, and profoundly personal experience, serving as a counterpoint to her large-scale arena concert held the following day.

all images courtesy of Telekom Electronic Beats, unless stated otherwise | image © Nadira Tania

A MODERN SOUND TEMPLE AT FLUSSBAD CAMPUS

Located near the Spree River, the Reethaus is the first completed phase of the larger Flussbad campus. The venue is part of Slowness, an experiential hospitality collective that reframes how people live and come together. For Kalkul and Electronic Beats, Deutsche Telekom’s cultural program, it provided the perfect backdrop for Erykah Badu’s meditative sound experience, resembling a 12-meter-tall temple with word-class sound technology. The building, designed by Austrian architect Monika Gogl, is an architectural collaboration that included Belgian designer Cédric Etienne and stands as a radical structure, characterized by a hand-thatched reed roof that allows the architecture to blend with its riverside environment.

Reethaus, designed by Monika Gogl as an homage to ancient temples| image © Jose Cuevas

BERLIN’S REETHAUS PROVIDES A PEACEFUL PERFORMANCE SPACE 

The interior design fosters an environment of complete presence, allowing the mix of rich, sensory materials, including blocks of burnt and scented cork, waxed oak seats, and woven tatami mats, to form a unified and tactile sanctuary. The intimate 30-minute session unfolded within the Reethaus’ core inner chamber, a ritual space where the architecture seeks to cultivate deep calm inspired by the tenets of Wabi-Sabi. Moving away from the format of a traditional auditorium, the design approach prioritizes textures, light, and creating an atmosphere of total repose. The wooden ceiling features a dramatic skylight that connects the chamber directly to the sky, imbuing the space with a spiritual charisma.

At the conclusion of the gathering, Erykah Badu personally engaged with the audience, inviting them to reflect on the experience. The artist’s powerful closing query asked participants to think about ‘how we can live the rest of our lives truly present and fully focused?’

Reethaus’ inner chamber | image © Clemens Poloczek

the architecture seeks to cultivate deep calm inspired by the tenets of Wabi-Sabi | image © Clemens Poloczek

the furniture is defined by tactile materials including blocks of burnt and scented cork | image © Clemens Poloczek

the design approach prioritizes textures, light, and creating an atmosphere of total repose | image © Clemens Poloczek

project info: 

name: Monday Ceremony 

artist: Eyrkah Badu | @erykahbadu
hosts: Kalkul and Telekom Electronic Beats | @kalkul.xyz and @electronicbeats
location: Reethaus Berlin, Germany | @reethausberlin

date: November 3rd, 2025

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Teenage Engineering releases handheld microphone EP–2350 Ting that gives singers a robotic or fairy voice. Built-in with sound effects, the compact device allows performers to modify their voices in four ways. The first is echo, which repeats their sounds. Then, there’s echo + spring, or a combination of the echo effect with a spring-like tone. The next is the pixie, which adds a high-pitched modulation to the users’ voice as if they were fairies, and lastly, the robot to give them a mechanical sound while performing live.

The body of the handheld microphone by Teenage Engineering includes a lever and motion sensor that control how the effects change in real time, meaning users can tilt or move the mic to adjust the intensity of the effect. On the side, there are four buttons that trigger preloaded sound samples such as air horns and lasers, which are commonly used in reggae and dancehall sound systems. Ting works as both a vocal mic and a simple sampler for live shows and can connect directly to a sampler through a line input or to any sound system.

all images courtesy of Teenage Engineering

Sampler ‘riddim’ makes reggae, dub, and dancehall tracks

Speaking of samplers, the handheld microphone isn’t the only recent release from Teenage Engineering. In fact, the team reveals its sibling in the name of EP–40 Riddim, which is based on earlier Teenage Engineering models, such as the EP–133 K.O. II and the EP–1320 Medieval. This time, the sampler, as well as the mic, is designed to make reggae, dub, and dancehall tracks. Riddim introduces a new play mode called LOP, which lets users control loops and create live remixes. The interface includes pads that can mute or unmute sounds during playback, allowing the DJs and producers to build and rearrange rhythms quickly during performance. Inside, the sampler includes a built-in synth engine called Supertone, the mastermind behind the bass and lead sounds with adjustable parameters. It also has three pressure-controlled dub siren tones, and the soundbank includes more than 300 samples. 

These consist of drums, percussion, bass, keys, melodica, guitars, and vocal shouts, samples made specifically for reggae, dub, and dancehall. Riddim also includes music and samples made by reggae and dub artists, who provided sound files such as bass lines, melodies, drum parts, and effects. The list includes King Jammy, Mad Professor, Mafia & Fluxy, Dre Skull, MPC, Rigo Fuego, Mighty Crown, and Baby G. Both the sampler and handheld microphone by Teenage Engineering are designed to connect and work together, with the Riddim handling the loops, samples, and rhythms, while the Ting adds vocals and live sound effects. The two units can be linked with cables for synchronized use. Riddim has ports for line input, line output, power, and MIDI control. Ting connects through a standard audio jack and draws power directly from the device it connects to.

there are four buttons that trigger preloaded sound samples

the compact device allows performers to modify their voices in four ways

Teenage Engineering also releases the sampler EP–40 Riddim for reggae and dancehall tracks

rear view of the sampler

the handheld microphone can be connected to the sampler

Riddim lets users control loops and create live remixes

the mic includes a lever and motion sensor that control how the effects change in real time

the sampler interface includes pads that can mute or unmute sounds during playback

the sampler includes a built-in synth engine for the bass and lead sounds

project info:

name: EP–2350 Ting, EP–40 Riddim

company: Teenage Engineering | @teenageengineering

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Everglow is a compact music interface that integrates generative AI technology with tactile hardware design to facilitate immediate sound creation and composition. Developed by designer Woojin Jang, the project rethinks how musicians capture and develop ideas by merging intuitive performance controls with algorithmic sound generation.

The device features a triangular key layout designed to replicate elements of both keyboard and guitar playing. Each key is pressure-sensitive, capable of detecting taps and upward sliding motions to enable expressive techniques such as pitch bends and vibrato. This layout allows for fluid transitions between melodic and rhythmic gestures, accommodating a wide range of musical styles and levels of technical familiarity.

all images courtesy of Woojin Jang

like a music sketchbook, Everglow Reimagines Musical Expression

Beyond individual note input, the system interprets multiple soft touches as a strumming motion, producing guitar-like sounds generated by a built-in neural engine. This capability expands the range of interaction between performer and instrument, offering a level of responsiveness typically associated with acoustic playing. Designed for handheld use, Everglow places essential controls, including scale switching and volume adjustment, on the back of the device, allowing performers to access them without interrupting play. This configuration supports mobility and improvisation, removing the constraints of fixed, tabletop-based setups.

By combining tactile precision with adaptive digital synthesis, Everglow, developed by designer Woojin Jang, establishes a bridge between analog performance and AI-assisted creativity. It serves as both an expressive tool and a prototyping instrument, enabling musicians to translate spontaneous ideas into sound in real time.

Everglow integrates generative AI with tactile hardware for real-time music creation

the triangular key layout merges aspects of keyboard and guitar performance

pressure-sensitive keys detect both tapping and sliding motions

designed by Woojin Jang, the device redefines how musicians capture ideas

multiple soft touches are interpreted as a strumming motion by the system

a built-in neural engine generates guitar-like sounds in response to gestures

Everglow’s ergonomic design encourages expressive, intuitive performance

designed for handheld use, the device supports mobility during play

scale and volume controls are positioned on the back for uninterrupted access

the configuration allows performance without reliance on a tabletop setup

Everglow’s compact form enables composition anywhere, from studio to street.

project info:

name: Everglow
designer: Woojin Jang | @woojinjid

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post everglow compact music sketchbook uses generative AI for real-time sound compositions appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Artist Meriem Bennani transforms the familiar flip-flop into a vibrating instrument of collective rhythm with her large-scale installation Sole Crushing, on view at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris until February 8th, 2026. The project fills the foundation’s entire vertical space with 201 flip-flops animated by a pneumatic system and synchronized to a musical composition created in collaboration with musician and producer Reda Senhaji (aka Cheb Runner).

Originally presented at Fondazione Prada in Milan (find designboom’s previous coverage here) and now entirely reimagined for Lafayette Anticipations, Sole Crushing becomes an immense polyphonic instrument. The installation invites visitors to wander through an organic environment of moving percussion instruments, including a sprawling island of sandals that crawl across the floor, vertical ladders and spiral structures covered in shoes, and a massive drum suspended from the top floor, commanding the whole ensemble. Each flip-flop, connected by two air tubes, strikes against materials like wood, plexiglass, fabric, or metal, producing a range of percussive tones that merge into a collective pulse.

all images by Aurélien Mole

Meriem Bennani channels collective energy through rhythm

Meriem Bennani’s rhythmic structure draws from Moroccan musical traditions, particularly dakka marrakchia, a ritual of drumming and chanting that builds to a peak of spiritual intensity. The Moroccan artist, together with Reda Senhaji, translates this energy into a contemporary orchestra, merging the hypnotic repetition of protest chants with the ecstatic cadence of football crowds and communal ceremonies. ‘I try to recreate moments of collective catharsis, rituals, atmospheres of big stadiums, and chaotic states of exaltation or revolt,’ Bennani says. ‘What interests me is to recreate what we feel in those moments of social utopia, where, without explanation, everyone knows what they are supposed to do within a group.’

The title Sole Crushing plays on the English expression ‘soul-crushing’, something emotionally numbing or draining, by swapping ‘soul’ for ‘sole.’ The pun literalizes the phrase through the slap of rubber soles beating rhythm and noise, evoking the sonic unity of bodies in motion. Bennani’s sandals become a democratic medium, being inexpensive, ubiquitous, and universally understood. The artist recalls being drawn to the flip-flop’s simplicity and material elasticity, its capacity to deform, bounce, and resist rigidity. ‘They’re polymorphic,’ she explains. ‘They can change shape and become something else. In a way, they escape the rigidity of authority and rules.’

This slipper, found everywhere from Moroccan markets to beach resorts, thus becomes a social metaphor. In Bennani’s hands, it symbolizes the tension between playfulness and resistance, the joyful, rebellious energy of the crowd. The artist connects the object’s humorous familiarity with its latent potential for dissent: the flip-flop as weapon, meme, or political symbol, from viral clips of shoes thrown at leaders to sculptures commemorating these gestures.

artist Meriem Bennani transforms the familiar flip-flop into a vibrating instrument of collective rhythm

duende, dakka, and digital humor

Bennani’s installation channels the duende, the mysterious force described by Federico García Lorca as the soul that possesses the flamenco dancer, and fuses it with dakka marrakchia, the Moroccan tradition that summons transcendence through repetition. These cultural references are filtered through the artist’s signature language of irony and pop sensibility, merging high and low, sacred and absurd.

Air circulates through its pneumatic network like breath through lungs; rhythms ripple upward, guided not by a single conductor but by a collective pulse. Bennani likens this to the maâlem, the heartbeat figure in Moroccan ensembles, who leads through rhythm rather than authority.

In this work, Bennani extends her ongoing investigation into how bodies, technologies, and symbols shape shared experience. Her practice, which spans sculpture, video, and kinetic installation, combines realistic elements and fantasy to reveal the hybrid nature of contemporary culture.

Sole Crushing is on view at Lafayette Anticipations, Paris

the large-scale installation fills the foundation’s entire vertical space with 201 flip-flops

the filp-flops are animated by a pneumatic system

synchronized to a musical composition created in collaboration with Reda Senhaji

Sole Crushing becomes an immense polyphonic instrument

inviting visitors to wander through an organic environment of moving percussion instruments

each flip-flop is connected by two air tubes

flip-flops strike against materials like wood, plexiglass, fabric, or metal

the slides have the capacity to deform, bounce, and resist rigidity | image by Théophile Mottelet

producing a range of percussive tones that merge into a collective pulse

Meriem Bennani’s rhythmic structure draws from Moroccan musical traditions

the sandals become a democratic medium

cultural references are filtered through the artist’s signature language of irony | image by Théophile Mottelet

Meriem Bennani in front of her installation

project info:

name: Sole Crushing

artist: Meriem Bennani | @meriembennani

curator: Elsa Coustou

location: Lafayette Anticipations | @lafayetteanticipations, Paris

dates: October 22nd, 2025 – February 8th, 2026

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