Jacopo Gonzato

boccaccio432

Audio system maker

©Riccardo Benedini

A craft exploring sound, geometry and material

Jacopo has a double degree in Architecture
He works on the spatialisation of sound
His pieces are sculptural and sound objects

After completing his studies in architecture, Jacopo Gonzato dedicated himself to a very original research on the spatial diffusion of sound. He explores sound in Platonic solids and their geometry, convex and regular polyhedra in three-dimensional Euclidean space. "The sound entering these different structures takes shape and inherits their geometric properties: what does a dodecahedron sound like? And an octahedron, an icosahedron, a tetrahedron…?" asks Jacopo. Since 2012, when he began his experiments on sound geometry, building his own prototypes and pieces in solid wood, he has brought design and technology together, craftsmanship and technological innovation in a structured vision. "My research on sound solids will not stop at Platonic solids," he warns.

Interview

©Riccardo Benedini

How did your interest in sound diffusion arise?: I was 8 years old when my father gave me an old four-speaker sound system. I began to experiment with it to understand the different effects obtained when changing the positions of the speakers. Much later, at university, a lesson on how earthquake waves enter buildings inspired me to reflect on sound waves.
What are your main sources of inspiration in this research?: First of all, the collaboration of Luca Pacioli and Leonardo da Vinci on the Platonic solids, each with his own interest: mathematical for Pacioli, the relationship between light and shadow for da Vinci. The Platonic solids reveal the properties of light, and I try to do the same with sound.
How was your Sound Geometry project born?: After graduation I worked as an architect in restoration, because I felt the need to know tradition. I founded Boccaccio 432, specialising in architecture, product and interior design, for which my sister Federica was crucial, and this gave me the opportunity to experiment on the three-dimensional dynamics of sound.
What do you love most about your profession today?: I like to arrive exhausted at the end of a task. As Molière said, only when you manage to do something to the point of exhaustion do you reach that point where the mind abandons pre-established patterns and intuition arrives at results that would otherwise be impossible. I also love the dialogue with the material.

Jacopo Gonzato is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2012