Oto speakers

KiBiSi, Kengo Kuma and Kosho Ito are three names behind the OTO speakers for smartphones, putting together two cultures of simplicity: Scandinavian and Japanese.

KiBiSi and Kosho Ito, OTO. Curated by Kengo Kuma for East Japan Project, 2016

OTO is a ceramic analog speaker for smartphones. It’s a collaboration between Danish industrial design trio KiBiSi and Japanese ceramic artist Kosho Ito. The partnership is curated by Kengo Kuma for the East Japan Project.

KiBiSi and Kosho Ito, OTO. Curated by Kengo Kuma for East Japan Project, 2016

KiBiSi and Kosho Ito, OTO. Curated by Kengo Kuma for East Japan Project, 2016

KiBiSi and Kosho Ito, OTO. Curated by Kengo Kuma for East Japan Project, 2016

The piece is a hybrid of a wind instrument and a bowl. It combines analog sound enhancement of portable music with a storage bowl for trifles and blends modern tech with a traditional object. Out of the mix comes a new everyday object with an odd sense of contemporary heritage.

OTO also unites cultures of simplicity: Scandinavian modernism and Japanese art & craft tradition. The piece is hand made in East Japan by Ceramic Master Artist Kosho-Ito, with a Japanese walnut wooden top that adapts to an iPhone. It is a semi-industrial product produced on a potter wheel and with traditional craft techniques including a rare crack surface treatment by Kosho-Ito that makes every object unique.

OTO
Design: KiBiSi
Manufacturing: Kosho Ito
Curator: Kengo Kuma for East Japan Project
Year: 2016

Oto speakers

KiBiSi, Kengo Kuma and Kosho Ito are three names behind the OTO speakers for smartphones, putting together two cultures of simplicity: Scandinavian and Japanese.

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