Turning Public Space Into A Nightclub

For each new generation a new type of urban furniture is required. That’s why the Dutch street furniture and playground design company Yalp created the Fono, the world’s first outdoor DJ booth. The grey concrete-like booth can be placed anywhere in the urban realm and can be easily used by anyone who wants to show off his or her mixing skills in public.

Since the 1960s young people have been expressing their deepest emotions sitting around a campfire with a guitar. Also street musicians mostly still use analogue instruments such as guitars, saxophones and accordions, but the world is changing. The next generation of urbanites listens to music in a whole new way. In the first place music has never been more digital. No instruments are needed to create songs and get huge groups of people moving. Also the way music is experienced and listened to has changed as well over the last years. With a smartphone and a Spotify premium account anyone has access to his or her music library, always and everywhere.

Fono

Since the introduction of the walkman and the earplugs, music is experienced in a very private setting, also in public space. The Fono makes music public again and breathes new life into the concept of the street musician. The grey concrete sculpture enables kids to hang out with their friends and listen together to the music that they want to play and hear. According to Rob Tuitert, one of the designers at Yalp, the Fono is very easy to use — you don’t need specific DJ skills, neither do you need to carry a suitcase loaded with vinyl records. The outdoor turntable is smartphone-compatible, runs on solar energy, and has a roof so that you can use it when it rains. Sounds good! There’s only one little thing: Who wants to live next to a Fone?

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