POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Braun T1000 multi band radio designed by Dieter Rams

Object No. 2013/128/1

Braun's high quality audio appliances present the preeminent field on which Braun built their design image in the late 1950s through the 1960s. Although the production of hi-fi products was well established in the USA and the UK in the late 1940s, Braun entered into this field late with a clear strategy to capture a share of that market. Braun's penetration of this field was exerted through superior design executed in the use of new materials and their economic application and later system design demonstrated in their component approach to audio products. Among the many audio products produced during this period the T1000 stands out for its extraordinary engineering - the radio was capable of scanning all available broadcasting frequencies - and its restrained physical appearance - the case when closed is an oblong with a smooth uniform exterior. The T1000 also embodies one of Dieter Rams' beliefs in design - that well designed products (that have resolved a form for simplicity, intelligibility, utility and longevity) can promote democracy. In the early 1960s as Germany was emerging from the chaos of WWII the T1000 radio, with its extraordinary band width and mobility - presented access to the world, while its physical form also presented order, harmony and economy (three design ideals favoured by Braun from this period). Dieter Rams' designs are specific - there is little or no semantic reference to previous product idiom or typology - each new product, once proposed, is cogitated upon. Rams has said that design for him is first and foremost intellectual work - he will think, read and talk about its design prior to any conceptualisation of its form. Campbell Bickerstaff, 2013

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Summary

Object Statement

Radio, with user manual, T1000 Weltempfaenger (world receiver), anodised and lacquered aluminium / plastic / electronic components / paper, designed by Dieter Rams, made by Braun, West Germany, 1963

Physical Description

Radio housed in an aluminium and plastic case. The front is aluminium, with a perforated grill on the left hand side, and a hinged panel that can be opened so it can sit neatly flush with the grill and the left hand side of the radio. The radio controls and dials are revealed when the front hinged panel is open and the frequency scales are positioned at the top, behind a clear plastic window. The base, top and back of the radio have a matte black plastic finish and there is a grey plastic retractable handle on the top. There are three aerials, one on the left, and two on the right. The radio sits on four small rubber feet. A user manual for the radio, printed in German, can be stored inside a built in slot inside the front hinged panel.

DIMENSIONS

Height

260 mm

Width

360 mm

Depth

135 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

Designed by Dieter Rams and manufactured by Braun AG in West Germany in 1963. This multi band radio was designed to receive transmissions from anywhere in the world. Thus the electronics are complex, and a user manual, neatly designed to slide into the drop down front which exposes the dials, was considered necessary and is readily available. Designed for the consumer market, it none-the-less has the feel of surveillance or military equipment, and indeed was said to have been used in embassies around the world. It could be fitted with a special direction finding adapter, compass and antenna, and could be used as an instrument for navigation.

HISTORY

Notes

In the early 1960s West Germany was emerging from the isolation of the post-war period, and beginning to look to the United States as an export market. Initially led by the German car market, manufacturers like Braun recognised the potential. Braun had been founded in 1921 by an engineer, Max Braun, who had invented a revolutionary electrical shaver. He died in 1951, and the company was taken over by his two sons, Artur and Erwin, who "transformed it into a model company complete with a health service, sports facilities and health food restaurants for employees." They also wanted to develop an expanded range of products, which would be stylish and better. They hired Hans Gugelot, a leading design teacher, and later, in 1955, Dieter Rams. Rams who had graduated in architecture and design in 1953 followed the form-follows-function methodology of the pre-war Bauhaus style, and "he created products that were simple to use, honest in their use of materials and stripped of all visual clutter." Taken in part from Icon Magazine, February 2004. Marcus Fairs.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased 2013

Acquisition Date

27 November 2013

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