Soundstation Radio Alarm Clock

As audio technology has changed rapidly over the course of the 20th century, from records and radio to the MP3, many iconic designs for audio devices have captured the public’s imagination and embodied innovation. The Soundstation radio is one of designer Matali Crasset’s early projects, produced with Philippe Starck for Thompson Multimedia. The distinctive shape of this compact clock radio departs from conventional models, with a cone-shaped speaker intended to visualize a blast of sound while also recalling the nostalgic form of the gramophone horn. Crasset’s design follows many early innovators in the 1920s and 40s who helped popularize audio equipment for the individual consumer, such as architect and industrial designer Henry Glass’s distinctive designs for the Fada Radio Company.