‘Duetti’: experiments in movement and music by Daily tous les jours resound in 5Vie

Cities and the urban environments they encapsulate are potential grounds for stories and connections to thrive. Yet, an unremitting onslaught of a fast-paced life—a rhythm almost too swift to be one with—has deprived the streets, crossroads and alleys of the ‘human,’ limiting them to just a — between two points. Montreal-based studio Daily tous les jours is on the forefront of an emerging field of practice that transforms urban design through interactive art, storytelling and performance. Their interventions that reimagine and reinvent living together in the 21st century step into the bustle of Milan Design Week 2024, resounding through 5Vie Network’s Unlimited Design Orchestra. At the design festival, the studio unveils its latest musical experiment Duetti: Musical Furniture.

Duetti employs interactivity to bring social and therapeutic insights to furniture design. Encouraging impromptu compositions, the immersive installation features two urban archetypes with an interactive twist: a bench that rocks and plays soothing music, and a bollard that transforms the act of walking into dancing. Played by the public as they move, synchronised motions create harmonies, inspiring collaboration. At night, integrated lights further enhance the experience of exploring the design. Duetti is a composition of two musical furniture pieces playable by the public.

The first part features a sculptural interactive, rocking bench. When people sit and push it to rock or spin, music and light animations are triggered through motion detection—merging analog and digital movements. The sounds that emanate from the bench are recordings of human voices, weaving an evolutive tapestry of tension and release. Part of the Daily tous les jours’ Daydreamer series, Duetti uses rocking, known to induce a state of daydreaming, and reduce stress and anxiety.

An edition of the studio’s Musical Lines series, the second part of Duetti is an interactive bollard, with integrated lights, encircled by line insets on the ground. Touching the lines—whether with a foot or a wheel—triggers its own set of voice harmonies. With increasing movement and simultaneous exploration, compositions emerge—music flourishes through deeper cooperation.

Known for creating interactive urban installations that spark joy within public spaces, Daily tous les jours prioritises the importance and need of play and its positive impacts on health and wellbeing. Synchronous activity, according to different studies, strengthens social attachment and empathy among a group well beyond the moment of coming together. Now on view in the design fair in Milan, both of these tenets come together in Duetti—where harmonies respond to the direction of movements, lines being played and the rhythms of concerted actions.