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Listening is the new together trend

Frederick Rickmann

Listening is the new together trend

In a world turned upside down it is refreshing to see that some of the things that bring us together are in fact some of the more traditional family pastimes. Lock-downs force us to be in social isolation with our families and households. We quickly find that the Insta's and Facebook's and Twitters in our smart phones are just too individually isolating and they fail terribly in the new situation when the household needs to be more cohesively together for longer periods. You

Livestream your own concert

Frederick Rickmann

Livestream your own concert

All over Europe, the lock-down restrictions are being removed, allowing more movement and contact. It’s great that the pandemic is on the wane. But the whole idea of a large rock concert or public performance is still way in the future. The excitement and buzz of having a large number of people together isn't going to happen any time soon. We still need to hear good music. We still need to support musicians and the music industry. In these times of crisis, we may be short of

Reflections of the times

Frederick Rickmann

Reflections of the times

DNgroup HQ, STEENSSEN, 70MEDiA and AFR Thinking Urban have moved from this great downtown location in Aarhus - to a really creative environment in Horsens, Denmark. The new location gives not only the right surroundings for an innovative team but also a much reduced carbon footprint. See you in Horsens!!! #DNgroupHQ #ReflectionsOfTheTimes #Aarhus #Horsens #Denmark #AFR #ThinkingUrban #UrbanPlan #CityPlanning #UrbanDesign #BlueAndOtherShapes #architect #FrederickRickmann #70ME

What is ARSA 3D sound and how does it improve the quality of sound?

What is ARSA 3D sound and how does it improve the quality of sound?

ARSA - Ambient Responsive Sonic Architecture is an acoustic system developed by STEENSSEN where the architecture of the internal structure of the cabinets and the array of driver units gives a time-lapse dispersal of the sound you are listening to so that you get a more natural surround effect when listening. ARSA also takes into account that you may be using a flat tv screen above the unit so that sound waves travel up behind the tv and reach your ears giving a deeper and mo

無形的歧視

無形的歧視

菊島來的男子愛上寶島女子，想將女子帶回菊島共度一生，其理由相當單純：我不喜歡台灣。儘管已經在台灣求學生活三年了，仍然厭惡大城市，說台灣人都很有心機。我無言以對，禮教告訴我：「來者是客、以和為貴」。後來我重新看這個問題，身為被歧視對象的我，為什麼沒有任何反應呢？是的，他說的沒錯，生活在大城市中的我們太有心機了，連被批評也不敢反擊或者討論。然而，我為女子的幸福擔心，男子似乎並不關心女子是否會喜歡住在菊島。人間之所以紛擾不斷的其中一個原因是「歧視」，當一個人對另一個人成長的土地懷有歧視時，離開後很有可能不會再回來，然而，女性進入家庭養育後代期間需要女方親友各方面的支持，男子深愛的人的親朋好友也都生活在心機重的地方，婚後女子與其親友就此兩地相隔，能夠幸福嗎？儘管生活在自由民主的台灣，我們的社會還是到處有歧視，男人歧視女人，女人歧視男人，年長者歧視年輕人，青年歧視老年，會開車的歧視不會開車的，婆婆歧視媳婦，媳婦歧視婆婆，都市人歧視鄕下人，鄕下人歧視都市人，這個科系歧視那個科系，這個產業歧視那個產業......，你說：不對啊！我從來沒有歧視任何人。是

文字為思想的載體勿隨意興「戰」

文字為思想的載體勿隨意興「戰」

近來台灣媒體用字越來越中國了，改變最大之一例是「策略」改寫為「戰略」，報導賣手機的商業手法用的是「行銷戰略」；說明政府在疫情衝擊下採取的振興經濟「戰略」；鼓勵民眾讀書買書用的也是振興文創產業「戰略」，未料在一本學習英文雜誌中的文章也用到「戰略」二字，英語島（English Island）《世界的移住風潮：I-Turn日本青年的浪漫鄉村夢》中寫道：「…除了政府在4年前開始推行『地方創生』政策，今年3月，日本旅遊局委員會還提議將『遊客到鄉村』（體驗農村的住宿型旅遊）作為觀光政策的主要戰略。」什麼時候開始大小事都要「戰」一下了？思想形塑語言，文字創造思想。在這紛亂的世代，原本只是一個政府或一家企業的策略，媒體人卻不知所以的使用「戰略」呈現，我以為此風不可長。至於為什麼要特別花時間來討論這個問題呢？老實說可能和我的設計本科有很大的關係。設計教育和工作幾十年的訓練下來讓我警覺每一個字、圖、線條都有其意義，我們常說最好的設計是：你無法再加上任何東西，也無法拿掉任何元素。套句中國話講就是「增一分則太肥，減一分則太瘦，好的設計就是該穠纖合度」，相同的，文字

會畫畫不等同會設計

會畫畫不等同會設計

「我的孩子從小就愛畫畫是不是應該儘早開始培養他成為設計師？」這句話我不知道聽了多少遍，今天我們就來談談設計和畫畫之間的差異，提供為孩子未來發展煩心的父母們、正計畫未來職涯的年輕學子在踏上設計科系前的評估、參考。三、五歲的小孩喜歡塗鴨是一件再正常不過的事，這段期間甚至到青春期的孩子們正在探索世界，而色彩和圖案只是好奇、探索下的表達工具而已，千萬別因此認定孩子將來可能成為設計大師。現在台灣的父母雖較上一代的父母給子女更大的發展空間卻還是擺脫不了為子女計畫未來的慾望，隨著全球經濟增長、科技進步，人們接觸到比過去二十年前更多設計感十足的汽車、建築、家居用品因而對設計師的「錢」（前）途有著不切實際的幻想，媒體誇大的報導也促使台灣的設計科系在近二十年間呈現非理性的成長，造就了一群畢業即失業的情況不說，設計師薪資也不高。如果孩子本身對設計工作沒有興趣，真的不值得刻意栽培一個設計師小孩。「設計師」涵蓋的領域很廣：服裝設計師、建築設計師、室內設計師、鞋樣設計師、平面設計師、商業設計師、程式設計師以及工業設計師等。各個不同的領域有相同、相異的教育訓練，本文以「工

Glass vs. Brick. Modern vs. Old. Barcelona

Frederick Rickmann

Glass vs. Brick. Modern vs. Old. Barcelona

The capital of Catalonia offers many sight like this one. Glass and steel juxtaposed with brick. A great example of future rooted into the past. #Barcelona #Catalonia #CulturalSustainability #AFR #ThinkingUrban #UrbanPlan #UrbanDesign #BlueAndOtherShapes #architect #FrederickRickmann #70MEDiA #DNgroup #1234Design #Denmark #arkitekt #Danmark #建築師 #出版社 #帝山諾 #丹麥設計

You, me and the planet

Frederick Rickmann

You, me and the planet

One of the striking things about these present times is that the pandemic has made us realize that individually we are important. Everyone. Keeping distance, using protection, washing hands and being aware of others are all things that we can do as persons. And our behaviour individually creates a solution that brings benefits to the entire community and indeed the whole planet. This strong sense of individual action in response to the Corona virus is in contrast to how we be

Tweets about tweeters

Frederick Rickmann

Tweets about tweeters

Several STEENSSEN followers have raised the interesting question that there doesn't appear to be tweeter drivers included in the new NEO series. A tweeter is the speaker unit that produces high pitch tones, tones like a high guitar riff, violin tones and sounds link bird songs. Tweeters are very normal in high quality hifi products and so the question is quite natural for STEENSSEN's new product line. Without disclosing too many confidential details at this stage, we can reve

Corona and the Climate

Frederick Rickmann

Corona and the Climate

Through the thick fog of today's politics and the blurry picture of fake and real news there is a golden thread emerging. You could almost say that it’s could even be a sign of better things to come. The pandemic we are dealing with right now, and the climate challenge we are beginning to fix, seem to share very similar solutions. Well of course a planetary virus and global warming are nothing like the same issue. But what they do have in common is that they force us to rethi

...For the times they are a-changin'

Frederick Rickmann

...For the times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan didn't get the Nobel Prize for literature just because he wrote catchy song lyrics. He was awarded the international accolade because he could express the spirit of a generation. He is still doing so. The "wheel is still in spin" for COVID-19, the global climate and for righting the inequalities that still separate people. The times, they still have to change. More so than ever. The way we do things, the way we make the products that surround us and they way we thin

Black and White

Frederick Rickmann

Black and White

For thousands of years, the art of lacquer has been perfected in Japan and in the Orient. Originally the oil from the Urushi tree (漆の木) was used to create this magical and yet robust natural finish. Now other methods are used, but the craft of lacquering is still a well-honed art form, that is difficult to achieve in Europe. Fast forwarding now to the 21st century, the AIR audio system from STEENSSEN uses this very sustainable technique to add beauty to sound. The deep gloss

The right product at the WRONG time

Frederick Rickmann

The right product at the WRONG time

Its exciting to be a front-runner. But frustrating as well. The right product at the WRONG time is a dilemma that haunts many a break-through. The job of a designer is to think well ahead - to be living a good few years in the future. The reason is that it takes a good many years to develop new products and solutions and then also to bring them to public attention. We have to be miles ahead of the market. The downside is that many products that could have been really awesome

Partnerskaber danner grobund for lokal og international vækst

Partnerskaber danner grobund for lokal og international vækst

by Danske Bank published on 7 December 2020 I B&Os tidligere udviklingslokaler er et stærkt vækst- og innovationsmiljø ved at tegne sig. Staten, Struer Kommune, Aalborg Universitet, Danish Sound Cluster, Færch-fonden, Danske Bank, Bang & Olufsen, Harman og en række andre store corporates er gået sammen om at skabe et centrum for lyd i verdensklasse i Struer, Sound Hub Denmark. Sound Hub Denmark skal fastholde og udvikle Danmarks stærke internationale position på lyd-området o

"Hifi is the male equivalent of anti-wrinkle cream"

Frederick Rickmann

"Hifi is the male equivalent of anti-wrinkle cream"

The quotation marks in the title are because I have to admit that I stole the line from an article by Jonathan Margolis in the Guardian. See it here Actually is it his wife who said that because she meant that both serious hifi and anti-wrinkle cream were based on very "dubious claims, expensive prices - and results which are only apparent to the buyer." Actually the beauty of that idea is not that both are expensive indulges but they both represent the fact that people to wa

The White House - windows of opportunity

Frederick Rickmann

The White House - windows of opportunity

As an architect, I always wanted glass to be glass. Windows should be more like transparent walls, rather than holes in a wall and that windows should not be subdivided into small panes. This is especially true with double and triple glazing where small panes are really just a pain when window-cleaning. However I also have to recognise, that sash-bars on windows really do add a kind of screening quality to windows. This applies both to the outside and also to the inside. Inte

AIR is clever - because it isn't smart

Frederick Rickmann

AIR is clever - because it isn't smart

Online security and lack of data privacy are fast raising serious issues. As more of our digital devices become interlinked through smart phones and online services, the threats to our privacy are mushrooming. When designing AIR we looked at this issue in detail. Our solution was to simplify rather than to pump up the complexity. Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and Apple's Siri are already the subject of negative controversy about the way they form gateways through which every

Round sound from a rectangle

Frederick Rickmann

Round sound from a rectangle

This is a fairly tech kind of blog. However the point in technology is that it has to have a purpose, a reason. This is specially true of hifi sound. So the real starting point of this blog is cultural. It is a guitar riff, the middle tones of a Mozart piano, the voice of Adele, the script of an e-book spoken by the human voice. One of the striking audio systems from STEENSSEN is called AIR. It concentrates on delivering the treble and mid-tones of all the above. It does so t

Review on STEENSSEN TT GRAND by Hifi.nl

Review on STEENSSEN TT GRAND by Hifi.nl

Author: Quintijn Bulterman Published on November 14, 2019 Denmark is a country that we know well at HiFi.nl as a kind of audio Walhalla, with great brands such as DALI, Densen, Bang & Olufsen and Davone. One brand is better known than the other. We can now also add Steenssen to this list. We received the TT Grand loudspeaker from this young Danish manufacturer. What should we think of an audio device that does not actually fit in the box of soundbar? And that in proportion to

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