11. Oto

OTO is a collaboration between Danish industrial design trio KiBiSi and Japanese ceramic artist Kosho Ito. A collaboration curated by Kengo Kuma for the East Japan Project. OTO is a ceramic analog speaker for smartphones. A sort of hybrid of wind instrument and bowl. It combines analog sound enhancement of portable music with a storage bowl for trifles and blends modern tech lifestyle 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. OTO is hand made in East Japan by Ceramic Master Artist Kosho-Ito. The Japanese walnut wooden top cut adapts to iPhone. Walnut wooden feet lift the OTO enhancing the acoustics. OTO is 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.

Designer
KiBiSi
Kosho Ito