Dezeen Magazine

David Adjaye creates concrete speaker with "directional form" for Master & Dynamic

Architect David Adjaye used a concrete composite material to create the sculptural form of this wireless speaker, which he designed for New York brand Master & Dynamic.

Through his design for the MA770, Adjaye – who received a knighthood in 2017's New Year's Honours – wanted to create a form that would "redefine the home speaker".

To do this, he used a concrete composite material developed by Master & Dynamic, which he said allowed him to create a sculptural shape that forgoes the traditional box-shaped speaker.

"This speaker is not about the traditional idea of making boxes, but about a directional form," said Adjaye.

"I became fascinated with the idea of using triangles to break down the mass of the box, and to see if we could dissolve the sense of volume through sculptural detail."

The new concrete material also provides a number of acoustic benefits, while also being strong and durable to increase the speaker's longevity.

According to Master & Dynamic, the concrete's dampening properties – which prevent it from vibrating – are five times better than wood and ten times better than plastic.

"The speaker can be placed just inches away from a turntable and play at full volume without causing the record to skip," said the company.

Premium materials are used throughout the rest of the design, with anodised aluminium forming the controls and stainless steel for the magnetic grille on the speaker's front.

The MA770 can be used as a single stereo unit or paired with another speaker via Wi-Fi. It also utilises Google's digital media streaming software Chromecast – making it the first ever speaker to feature this technology for stereo pairing. The speaker will retail for £1,600.

Adjaye is famed for projects including the Dirty House and Stephen Lawrence Centre, and has just completed one of the most important projects of his career – the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.

His firm, Adjaye Associates, is currently working on a major new art museum in the Latvian capital Riga and a children's cancer treatment centre in Rwanda.