Sign in with Google
Sign in with email
Every new invention goes through a cycle of evolution. First, the idea is introduced; second, experiments are conducted and prototypes developed until a plausible form is achieved; and finally, the new innovation, the object, opens up to absorb cultures and styles—from different regions, times, and people. From doors and windows to tables and chairs, from clothing and footwear to lamps and crockery, almost every object that was initially constructed in a crude configuration to fulfil utilitarian roles has evolved to assimilate new requirements, traditions, and aesthetics. Following suit, Re:Quiet, a Ukraine-based brand founded by Stanislava Krugliakova and Oleksandr Mnukhin, creates sound-absorbing materials, systems, and furniture that can adorn interior spaces conspicuously, meet domestic needs for partitioning spaces, seating and storing, and illuminating and decorating. .
Re:Quiet collaborates with designers to create wall and ceiling panels, acoustic partitions of varying sizes, acoustic lamps, soft furniture and ornamental acoustic compositions. Constantly experimenting with new forms, colours, and textures to build screens and objects that fulfil different pragmatic purposes, Re:Quiet has, in a short period of time, managed to build a library of products that can be modulated to occupy both homes and offices. Their latest launches, borne in collaboration with Kyiv-based designer Vladyslav Tolochko, include a large soft chair, Stratum acoustic partitions, Piece of Mind suspended partitions and Jupiter lamp.
The armchair, with a high back made out of PET felt, helps absorb unnecessary noise while also providing a soft cushion for sitting, relaxing, and working. The Stratum acoustic partitions, on the other hand, are colourful partitions that can divide spaces within a larger room. The organic forms writ on the panels—inspired by Salvador Dali’s Persistence of Memory—induce an element of fun in the room.
The Piece of Mind partitions are organic-shaped panels that can be hung from the ceiling. It manages to separate different zones, and reduce excess noise while offering views to other corners of the room. The screens, shaped like bulbous drops, allow light to pass through them partially. In this process, a dance of light and shadow emerges in close proximity to the suspended panels. The last piece of the collection, the Jupiter lamp, is an acoustic luminaire. Inspired by and named after the largest planet in the solar system and the rings that surround it, Jupiter’s design comprises a series of plates that gracefully envelop the light fitting in the centre.
The Re:Quiet pieces—characterised by elemental shapes and subtle colours—aim to design comfort and facilitate efficiency by creating a soothing and calm atmosphere. Their objective is in congruence with the business of designing sound-proof systems. “Noise is information. At least that's what our brain thinks. It picks up the slightest sounds and changes around it in order to detect danger,” Krugliakova and Mnukhin share. In an attempt to reduce noise—which, in turn, reduces stress and anxiety and improves concentration and efficiency—Re:Quiet configures acoustic wall and ceiling coverings, as well as upholstered furniture that absorbs sound waves and reduces the level of reverberation.
In an attempt to further facilitate a better quality of life, Re:Quiet materials are built using non-woven PET fibre. Describing the process of building each object, from acquiring plastic to turning them into the final products, Krugliakova says, “We do not produce sheets from bottles, we buy PET sheets and create our own products. In general, the process is as follows: processing plastic bottles into flakes, then into fibre, from which PET felt is made.” The final material produced using this process is low maintenance and hypoallergenic. It does not accumulate dust, is easy to care for, is sustainable, and can be recycled. In fact, the brand encourages its customers to return old panels back to them so that they can be broken down and reused again.
While acoustic compositions by the brand come in various geometric shapes such as Circle, Ellipse, and Diamond, the wall panels are richer in variety and textures, with Honey Comb, Wood Line, Check, Big Check, Diagonal, Pineapple, Plain, Necklace, Diamonds, Scale, Square, Star, Wave, and Chain. The designers of Circle, Ellipse, and Diamond, Evgen Litvinenko and Dmytro Yakovlev, share, “It’s time to rethink the office, to end its status of a place of constant stress and stuffy corporate culture. An office can be cosy and emotional, and playful elements are appropriate in it. The items we create for Re:Quiet help you to feel comfortable, whether it is an acoustic screen with a bird figurine, a wall panel, or a sofa. They all are aimed at the same idea, to make the office a friendly place where you are busy with something so exciting that you don’t want to leave.”
Acoustic partitions, on the other hand, come in two sizes, as room dividers and desk screens, and pendant lamps come in varying shapes. Ceiling panels by Re:Quiet, called Tic-tac-toe, feature a honeycomb configuration hanging down from the ceiling, and furniture design comprises soft seating products named after animals such as Hamster, Koala, Labrador, and Maine Coon. The brand intends to design more products such as deck chairs, modular sofas, 3D panels, and new kinds of lamps in the future. In doing so, the brand envisions aesthetic and calming interiors that kill chaos and facilitate an environment suitable for deep thinking, introspection, and work.
What do you think?