There is music in everything. Maybe it's the steady whack-hiss of a pneumatic nailer, or the drawn-out whir of a table saw, or the back-and-forth hum of an edger. When he walks the streets of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, industrial designer Jeriël Bobbe hears music, too, from stone slabs, to tactile paving for the blind, to grated passages for wheelchairs. These experiences, coupled with his background in violin and digital music making, inspired Bobbe to design Me-lo-dy, wood flooring panels with relief grooves that produce musical pitches when something, such as a piece of wheeled luggage, is wheeled over them. To make Me-lo-dy, Bobbe worked with manufacturer Bruns. "The distance between the openings determines the pitch and their depth determines the volume," Bobbe says. He made the panels from walnut, which Bobbe says is "very strong" and "vibrates the best." He displayed the product during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, and he has garnered interest from commercial sellers. Ultimately, Bobbe imagines Me-lo-dy could be used to add "a bit of poetry" to what are typically dull, impersonal settings rife with hustle and bustle: railway depots and airports. Using wood flooring to improve everyday life is, of course, music to our ears.
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There is music in everything. Maybe it's the steady whack-hiss of a pneumatic nailer, or the drawn-out whir of a table saw, or the back-and-forth hum of an edger. When he walks the streets of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, industrial designer Jeriël Bobbe hears music, too, from stone slabs, to tactile paving for the blind, to grated passages for wheelchairs. These experiences, coupled with his background in violin and digital music making, inspired Bobbe to design Me-lo-dy, wood flooring panels with relief grooves that produce musical pitches when something, such as a piece of wheeled luggage, is wheeled over them. To make Me-lo-dy, Bobbe worked with manufacturer Bruns. "The distance between the openings determines the pitch and their depth determines the volume," Bobbe says. He made the panels from walnut, which Bobbe says is "very strong" and "vibrates the best." He displayed the product during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, and he has garnered interest from commercial sellers. Ultimately, Bobbe imagines Me-lo-dy could be used to add "a bit of poetry" to what are typically dull, impersonal settings rife with hustle and bustle: railway depots and airports. Using wood flooring to improve everyday life is, of course, music to our ears.
The designer used American walnut slabs and a CNC cutter to create grooves in the surface. The floor makes sound when objects are rolled over it (opposite).
All Things Wood Floor, created by Wood Floor Business magazine, talks to interesting wood flooring pros to share knowledge, stories and tips on everything to do with wood flooring, from installation, sanding and finishing to business management.
