Petervary Multifunctional Piano Bench by Maform Design Studio Receives the A' Design Award in Product Engineering and Technical Design

The Work

Project

Petervary Multifunctional Piano Bench

Function

Multifunctional Piano Bench

Category

Product Engineering and Technical Design

Discipline

Industrial Design

Industry

Manufacturing

Colors

White, Gainsboro, Black, Dark Slate Gray and Light Slate Gray

Images

5

Client

Petervary Music Tech Ltd.

The Recognition

Laureate

Maform Design Studio

Country

Hungary

Brand

Maform

Recognition

A' Design Award

Edition

2022 - 2023

Design ID

#149043

Credits

Team

Márk Fábián, Zita Aszódi, Gerda Nagy, Balázs Polacsek, Fruzsina Tóth, Tímea Galazek, Ildikó Varga and Géza Csire

Design Details

Unique Properties

Petervery is a smart piano bench which can revolutionize the way people play and learn to play the piano. The upper part of the bench can slide sideways, allowing the artist to better reach the keys on the far ends of the piano while maintaining optimal body posture. The other key feature of our product is the motorized height setup. Artists, teachers and students can set their preferred height with ease whilst sitting on the bench or they can set their personal height profile on an NFC tag or use the mobile app for automatic adjustment.

Inspiration

The focus for the design was to find the right balance between high-tech and classical style. The Petervary Smart Piano Bench itself is a revolutionary, technical product, however designers had to ensure it fits into the style of classical music and looks neat next to a grand piano. Therefore, the greatest source of inspiration were the fine and functional details and form language of grand pianos. Designers aimed to create a subtle design for the bench, where the form elegantly serves the function.

Research

For the project of the exterior product design, qualitative and disruptive research methods were used as well as case-studies. The objective was to better understand the product itself, the target groups and market, and to discover the most important criteria such as style, ergonomics, quality, materials and manufacturing requirements. Designers used maform's in-house challenge mapping method along with user tests (pianists, students, instructors, and maintenance), and case-studies of reference products.

Challenge

The biggest challenge was to wrap a high-tech product into a classical shape lead by the strict form-language of grand pianos, while preserving and gently showcasing its high-tech origins. Piano benches are supportive objects to the piano, however they often do not claim this position. Designers of maform intended to change this by designing a piano bench that stands proudly next to the highest quality grand pianos, and that is a worthy pair of the piano with its subtle, elegant and functional design.

Realization and Technology

This innovative product is presented in a fully functional display prototype using rapid prototyping technologies for the casing. Some parts were too large to manufacture in 1 piece, for those various bonding solutions were used to join the pieces before polishing. Each printed piece went through a careful polishing process to prepare the surfaces for professional painting to reach a high level appearance. The assembly was designed to make the bench fully servicable, while keeping the bolts hidden.

Operation and Interaction

Petervary Smart Piano Bench features an upper part which can slide sideways, allowing the pianist to better reach the keys on the far ends of the piano, while maintaining optimal body posture the entire time. This helps the pianist to play more accurate, be more comfortable while playing and to be able to practice for longer. The other main feature is the motorized height setup. The pianist can easily set the desired height manually by using the control panel, or a token to set it automatically. Smart functions of the bench are useful for professional and hobby musician, teachers and students too.

Project Duration and Location

The project began in September 2022 and the current development phase finished in February 2023, the project was running in Budapest and Tatabanya, Hungary.

Specifications

The product dimensions are 870 mm (width) x 405 mm (depth) x 570 mm (height) when the bench is at the center position and the height is set to the highest option, without the additional backrest (the height is 790 mm at the highest set with the additional backrest). The bench uses 0,35 m2 floor area. The product weighs approx. 32 kg’s at the current development stage.

Keywords

Product design, music, music instrument design, smart product, smart design, furniture design