Brut-tasia
Digital Twin II // 2024
A Cast concrete bluetooth speaker.
Designed to play music for plants.
01
Assignment
Design a functional bluetooth speaker using repeatable processes like 3D printing, casting, or machining.
Inspiration
In the 1970s, experimental composer Mort Garsson released “Plantasia” – an album to help plants grow.
This came alongside research from Dr. T. C. Singh, which demonstrated that plants respond positively to music.
In the 50 years since music for plants came into existence, nobody ever designed a speaker for plants.
02
Ideation & Prototyping
Brutalism as Inspiration
I drew inspiration from the cold, inorganic repetition of Brutalist architecture. It looks great next to plants, and it’s my favorite architectural style.
Ideation
I wanted to challenge myself to cast the speaker from concrete, so I designed with moldability in mind.
03
Designing for Moldmaking
Designing for Moldmaking
Concrete shell designed with moldable features. 3D prints allow electronics & plant pot to interface with concrete shell.
Design Verification
Before committing to the casting process, I performed light studies on my model in Blender. This gave me the confidence to dedicate a lot of time to making this real.
Doing the Moldmaking
I considered molding this using more traditional silicone or urethane techniques. Instead, I did this the cheapest way possible. I used construction-grade silicone caulk from home depot, a green foam core, and a plaster mother mold to fabricate this.
04
Final Design
