Philips and Cappellini team up to create a seamless fusion of technology and furniture

The range, called Paesaggi Fluidi ("Fluid Landscapes"), takes a highly innovative approach to combining furnishing and consumer electronics in a seamless fusion of technology and design. The range incorporates several Philips devices - two Plasma FlatTV™ models, a DVD home entertainment system, an LCD projector, and a Pronto Pro universal remote control - into items such as sofas, sideboards and shelving units.

The project builds on the application of technologies in the consumer electronics industry, which enable more ergonomic, smaller footprint devices like flat displays and slimline audio-video systems. These technologies are not only changing the aesthetic appearance of devices, but they are playing a key role in changing the way consumers locate, control and interact with appliances.

Ingenious approach
Paesaggi Fluidi is the joint creation of Cappellini chairman Giulio Cappellini and Stefano Marzano, CEO and chief creative director of Philips Design. Working from their original concepts, Philips and Cappellini designers and engineers came together to produce the seven-piece Paesaggi Fluidi range. The range includes 'Vesuvio', an ingeniously-designed multi-section sofa featuring an integrated DVD system connected to a ceiling-mounted LCD projector In another example, a Philips 42-inch Plasma FlatTV and its tuner box, plus a DVD system and speakers have been built into a stainless steel bookcase on a revolving stand.

The Philips products are supplied to Cappellini directly from its factories, after undergoing a serious and thorough testing procedure that ensure total safety during use through time. The final pieces of furniture will be marketed via Cappellini monobrand stores and showrooms in Europe and the United States.

Commenting on the project, Stefano Marzano of Philips said: "Philips continues to challenge the idea that home entertainment technology is only about conspicuous 'black boxes' in the living environment. What stimulated Giulio and I to work together on Paesaggi Fluidi was the sharing of the same vision, in which technology, rather than being a purpose in itself, is a tool to create new qualities in our life".

Frans van Houten, general manager of global business creation for consumer electronics at Philips, states that the Cappellini project perfectly complements Philips' approach to lifestyle design: "We have taken a strong lead in creating Home Entertainment products which match the consumer's home environment as well as their functional technology needs. With this project, Philips and Cappellini are dynamically demonstrating how consumer electronics and furniture can be brought together in an attractive and meaningful way."

Along the same line, Giulio Cappellini added: 'Today we are rediscovering the 'beauty' of technology, doing away with the traditional idea that a functional object is necessarily clumsy and should be stored away. A successful object today is one that lives naturally within the different ambients of the home, that harmoniously embodies many functionalities, addressing the issues of lack of space and of multi-functionality of the living areas.

Paesaggi Fluidi starts from this willingness to enrich our homes with objects that are surprising, technological and, ultimately, very attractive to see, use and experience.