jeriel bobbe: suitcase symphony

‘suitcase symphony’, or ‘me-lo-di’, luggage pathway designed by jeriël bobbe

the work of recent dutch design graduate jeriël bobbe, ‘suitcase symphony’ (or ‘me-lo-di’) transforms the monotony of airports and travel into an opportunity for music and play. the design utilizes individual, rearrangeable wooden panels– each featuring a ridged surface whose scores are spaced specifically in order to produce a particular note when a wheel is dragged along it: the distance between each ridge determines the pitch and their depth the approximate volume.

assembled together, the panels create a kind of musical pathway or luggage strip, and by placing different ‘notes’ together, a designer or airport manager can recreate a particular music composition that will ‘play’ as passengers drag their luggage along the surface. the spacing of the panels is calculated so as to play the right note when a person is moving at normal walking pace, about 2.5mph (4 km/hr).

‘whether they are stone slabs, tactile paving for the blind, or a grid for wheelchairs, there is music in everything.‘ – jeriël bobbe

closer view of the project in use

detail on panel image © designboom

profile detail

each block is designed to sound a specific note when traveled across at normal walking speed image © designboom

closer view of the panels image © designboom

production process; the panels were constructed by netherlands-based production company bruns

stacks of finished panels

jeriel bobbe demos the pathway during dutch design week 2011