“WHAT WE DESIGNED
IS NOT A LOUDSPEAKER.
WHAT WE DESIGNED
WAS VIBRATING AIR.”
Zikmu is not a personal
project. Henri Seydoux
(founder and CEO of Parrot)
is a very unusual person. As
a friend who understands
him deeply, I was simply
able to express what he
had in his head, because
luckily he couldn’t draw
it himself. It was a kind of
osmosis.
If Henri had just asked me to design a loudspeaker, with the standard
technology that produces the usual effect, I wouldn’t have been interested
at all. I would have told him, «listen, it’s very kind of you but there are
lots of other people who will do a better job than me». But this project
offers a totally coherent approach, in terms of the result achieved, and
the result for the people who will use it, and that’s what counts. This is
not that we are designing, making and selling loudspeakers. What is
important is what the final benefit will be for the person who will use it.
In that respect, Henri and his engineers have done a remarkable job.
Parrot is at the very forefront of global technology, in particular
for Bluetooth®, and to my mind that says a lot. It means that Parrot
works with real subjects, such as communications and immateriality.
So Parrot has a genuine aim: to allow wireless communication that
is, for example, more flexible and infinitely versatile. That certainly got
me interested.
The approach of Henri Seydoux and of Parrot is totally right and
integrated.And as we all agreed on that, the project created itself,
because we got the meaning right, and the aim, doing nothing other
than the minimum needed to achieve that maximal aim.
The aim wasn’t just to make another loudspeaker. It is clear that our
design produces amazing sound, but what’s more, whether you use
Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, whether you put your mobile phone or your MP3
player next to it, it plays music as if by magic, and that’s incredible.
But, and this is what got me interested, what we designed is not a
loudspeaker. What we designed was vibrating air.
These loudspeakers offer an extra dimension created by the vibration,
where the air itself comes to life. You have an object, which creates this
air that surrounds you on all sides, that has a presence, like a human
presence, like a fragrance.
Parrot’s engineers have worked miracles. It’s amazing what they have
managed to do in terms of the quality of the technology and sound, in
such a small space. The aim of my dematerialization strategy was always
to keep everything to the strictest minimum.
As for me, my job, which I believe I have done well, was to design a
minimalist setting for this technology for the benefit of man. How
could I have done any less? Zikmu is the simplest design possible
at present. Our device is totally modern, not just because of all its
technical capabilities, but also because it is as simple as possible. Its only
purpose is to produce the maximum effect, with the most advanced and
incredible technology, and the least amount of material. Now that is
what I call magic.
Phillipe Starck
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