A light show to remember at London Design Festival 2018

Electronic Specifier attended one of the 2018 V&A projects - Arvo Pärt X Arup: Memory & Light.

In the V&A's Norfolk House Music Room, Harman Kardon presented a new line of Citation speakers for the first time in the UK as part of 'Memory & Light'. The installation, part of this year’s programme of commissioned projects at the V&A for London Design Festival, has been created by designers and engineers from Arup and is inspired by, and features music from, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

The installation was inspired by Pärt's famous words: “I could compare my music to white light, which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.” Pärt’s words are brought to life in a meeting of design and music throughout the multi-sensory installation.

A perspex curved screen represents the prism in Pärt's description, alongside a viewing and listening bench where visitors can sit to experience the composer’s words and his music. The Citation speakers from Harman Kardon were used in the installation to play four of Pärt's most famous pieces of music including 'Spiegel im Spiegel' (Mirror in the Mirror).

Gianni Teruzzi from Harman, who was lead designer on the Citation Series commented: “The entire design team at Harman Kardon is honoured that Citation has been selected to be part of this incredible installation. The mix of contemporary design and traditional materials that we have used in creating Citation mirrors our partners in this project perfectly.”

“Citation was designed with a timeless, effortless aesthetic in mind, a product at ease in any room and we are incredibly excited to see how Arup has integrated the speakers in the installation as part of the world-famous London Design Festival.”

The Citation speakers deliver a listening experience with options to use the speakers individually or build a 5.1 channel surround system. Available for purchase in winter grey or classic black wool fabric, the speakers also feature Google Assistant, streaming the newest music with Google’s voice activation.

Additionally, the Harman Kardon speakers have Chromecast built-in, allowing over 300 audio and video streaming services to be easily accessed in HD quality. Once connected to the same WiFi network as a speaker, the smartphone or laptop can ‘cast’ the latest chart release or playlist from Chromecast compatible apps.