I love old records and have a pretty big collection that goes back to when I was a kid in the 70s on Chicago’s north side flipping through 45s and saving up to get that new Earth, Wind, and Fire album.
When we picked up the Airstream I thought “what if we could listen to some of those old records whenever we camped somewhere in our tiny home?”
Iterative prototyping is the rule. Soooooo…..
I started by getting a small portable record player (everything in a travel trailer or tiny home has to be compact or stowable, or have multiple uses/configurations).
I found this lovely British player called a Wondergram. The model I got was made in 1959 and needed some repair.
After a bit of solder and losing and finding the really small screws, we were ready for our first musical roadtrip adventure!
Oh, yeah, that was in my collection too. But I was imagining something more like this…
Hmm. Ok that was a start. But let’s iterate.
Not really “surround sound dolby deluxe home theater” level experience, so I started exploring fun inspirations for a more permanent and richer sounding experience.
Oooh that fold down record player, and err, if we’re going to do it right we’d need a lounge chair too and I just love the bent wood design sensibility of Charles and Ray Eames.
While the tiny house was getting a work out on various mini adventures across the USA I stumbled on this amazing Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot designed HiFi record player. It’s the Braun Atelier 11 from 1960 (the version with a plexiglass top was called “Snow White Coffin.”
It has a record player and multi-band radio with matching speakers.
It would require pulling out one of the beds in the Airstream (putting it in storage because… who knows what the future brings).
Now there are two key design challenges…
How might the back of the airstream become a lounge/reading nook? How would we stabilize the tube-based amplifier and record player mechanism for when we were on the road?
So I started taking measurements and doodling a bit. We’d want a place to store the albums, a few bottles of wine, the occasional cup of Joe or a book.
Ok it’d be a tight fit, but mobility is the watchword and requires sacrifices.
I also thought this would be a fun project for some young designers to tackle and would give them a great portfolio piece (and a taste of design history from three inspirations… Rams, Eames, and Wally Byam, the founder/creator of Airstream). I reached out to one of my favorite and most inspiring designers, Arthur Harsuvanakit. I sent him my sketches, inspiration board and invited he and his partner Twiggy Chen to come out. Once they saw the lay of the land they signed up to help design and build out the lounge/nook cabinet.
They had access to one of the most incredible woodworking shops in the Bay Area (Carl Bass, the former CEO of Autodesk is also a master furniture maker and Arthur was his design/engineer intern when I first met him). So they took measurements (yes our dog helped of course) and begin the adventure.
They started modeling the Airstream in Fusion (a CAD package we all felt comfortable playing in) and exploring concepts…
We ultimately zeroed in on a cabinet design that looked like it could take on all of our goals and feel appropriate in context.
After Arthur and Twiggy made a full-size cardboard prototype for test fitting and adjustments, detailing, material, and finish selection were finalized and construction began.
By the fall Arthur and Twiggy where back out and installed it.
We finalized details for the mechanism to lock the record cabinet, and cushion/strap down the delicate radio components for when the tiny home was on the move.
Just look at the beautiful craftsmanship they put into every detail!
Of course we factored in having Eileen Gray’s adjustable bar/table nest with the cabinet for greater optionality. Most days it spends time in the kitchen diner area of the Airstream but like most tiny houses on wheels transformability, nest-ability and eclectic material combinations are key.
Ahh, sit back, enjoy a little coffee, read a book, and listen to something classic.
Right now? Annie Lennox is on heavy rotation somewhere in Southern California.
Where should our tiny mid-century-product-design-museum tiny home lounge go next?
Too amazing!!
AA