these hand-thrown clay speakers fuse pottery tradition and wireless tech

hand-made from organic materials such as clay, wood, leather and wool, the ‘mapuguaquén’ clay speakers combine ancestral pottery tradition with state of the art wireless audio-technology. meaning ‘the sound of the earth’ in mapuche — a language spoken in south-central chile and west central argentina — mapuguaquén are produced in limited, numbered series in the south of chile, using traditional craft techniques, natural materials and regional aesthetics.

mapuguaquén have been conceived by documentary design — a studio founded by pablo ocqueteau & philine von düszeln — with the dream to ‘give back protagonism to traditional crafts and to make ancient knowledge and skills essential tools for the construction of the future. that’s why our speakers stand for handmade quality, cultural identity, eco-effectiveness, transparency and fair-trade,‘ they explain. the spherical shape of the body benefits the transmission behavior of the speakers in two ways: it avoids sharp resonances inside the vessel, and smoothes out the focusing effect of the housing at high frequencies outside the vessel. this leads to a more life-like interaction between the sound source and the room.

the speakers are made of 80% biodegradable materials and — together with a local NGO — the team plants one native tree for every speaker that is sold. each unit is a completely unique, customized piece of art, made by experienced hands with dedication and precision. with the first limited series selling on kickstarter, mapuguaquén are available as mono, 2.1 speaker system and stereo speakers.