Felt-covered sliding doors made of acoustic substrate separate the children’s room and living area.

“The way people experience sound at home has evolved signifcantly since our doors opened 90 years ago.” –Tue Mantoni, CEO of Bang & Olufsen

“Technical products like hi-fi fit more easily into all kinds of surroundings than those old furniture look-alike ones.”—Dieter Rams, designer

Acoustic Shells (Flanagan Lawrence: Littlehampton, United Kingdom) A visual response to the sand dunes and sea near the shore, these whisper-thin concrete curves were shaped with material sprayed on mesh, measuring merely 100 millimeters in spots. The twin bell curves function as a bandstand on one side, and a larger version of a seashell on the other—it plays back the sea’s gentle rhythms.

For the latest in audio technology, check out our list of the best-designed speakers on the market.

Acoustic Mass speakers by Bose, 1987

"We emphasize user convenience and emotional appeal."—Tue Mantoni

Inspirational spaces

Digital Audio Devotee The Zero 1, made by the German company Avantgarde Acoustic, contains a complete digital audio system within the speakers’ polyethylene cabinets. AirPort Express can be used to connect the speakers to a source. Each cabinet contains a DAC (digital- to-analog converter), allowing direct connection to digital sources; the signal is then routed through a digital crossover network and DSP (digital signal processing), which can correct for room acoustics. The three speaker drivers each have their own power amplifers, and the two speakers communicate via radio link. $18,500 per pair.

Form Us With Love, which is based in Stockholm, introduces a new line of wide-format acoustic panels for Baux. The five "forest-inspired" wall patterns include a mix of 22 colors.

Stealth is the name of the game at @ArperSPA where an wall-mounted acoustic panel hides a speaker and lighting and the new task chairs discreetly integrate adjustment handles into the seat's base.

British artist Hannah Sawtell and technologist Avi Flombaum created sawbaum.com, where users can create visual collages using multiple vine streams. "We wanted it to look like a visual comic book, with overlapping panels," said Flombaum. "And we wanted it to be fun!" Photo courtesy Rhizome.

"Acoustic modeling of digital space during the design phase allows architects to make qualitative decisions to improve acoustic performance, which is promising for any space where acoustics play a signifcant role."—Chris Downey, architect

Currently the home and design editor at Departures, Dan Rubinstein lives in New York City. He penned the cover story for this issue, featuring Nicolas Roche’s kaleidoscopic Parisian home. “Roche’s apartment truly encapsulates the virtues of any design lover: rare and bizarre vintage finds, shots of quirk and color, and some good old-fashioned problem-solving. I remain utterly fascinated with his Bond-style, mega-groovy bed of unknown origin.” Favorite piece of furniture: His Vegetal chair from Vitra in black. “I’m a big fan of using outdoor furniture indoors when appropriate.”

Träullit tiles by Form Us With Love for BAUX. Wall tiles soak up background noise and provide a jolt of pattern and color. This iteration—made in Sweden from wood wool, cement, and water—also helps regulate a room’s humidity thanks to the composite material’s high absorption rate.

Stitch acoustic panel by Stefan Borselius for Abstracta. For a cozy Scandinavian take on an office sound absorber, try Abstracta’s quilted fabric version on ash legs.

The collection consists of round, square, and oval-shaped panels.

Dan designed the office seating with the capacity to double as overnight accommodations.

Eli Meir Kaplan/Wonderful Machine for Dwell The home of Daniel, Sofia, Aliza, and Saul Pink and Jessica Lerner on Friday, June 22 in Washington, DC.

Dansk coffee table by Povl Eskildsen for Gloster, $1,545 A Danish designer who learned the ropes working in his father’s furniture factory brings a sleek Scandinavian touch to a line of outdoor pieces.

More than 40 years after engineering the Sydney Opera House, the interdisciplinary firm Arup is fine-tuning architectural sound performance with the latest modeling technology, reports principal Raj Patel. The U.S. Courthouse for the District of Utah, in Salt Lake City, was designed using Arup’s SoundLab, in which recordings are utilized to create an aural rendering of a room’s acoustics. “From the moment of creation to the moment of perception, sound is augmented and transformed by the shapes, forms, volumes, and materials around us,” says Raj Patel, Principal and Global Leader of Acoustics at Arup.

Belgian BUZZISPACE.COM, created in 2007 in Antwerp, makes acoustic solutions for the home and office using bespoke felt made of recycled plastic or wool.

The Parentesit collection by Lievore Altherr Molina was unveiled at Salone del Mobile 2015.

For workplaces and home offices, the acoustic wall panels mitigate extraneous noise while adding visual flair.

An acoustic ceiling balances out the sound that might otherwise bounce off of the concrete floor and brick wall during a rousing dinner party. (Bonus: The sound-dampening holes in the ceiling panels add a hit of pattern.)

Flavin created minimalist sculptures using commercially available flourescent lights, like the 1977 piece seen here, called (In memory of Sandy Calder)V. Placed side by side, the two primary-colored compositions that comprise it recall the work of Alexander Calder. The bed at the end of the space, Single Bed #32 (Daybed), is one of Judd's furniture designs. Image © Judd Foundation; Photo credit: Maris Hutchinson, EPW Studio; Judd Foundation Archive; Flavin artwork © 2015 Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London; Licensed by VAGA

A courtyard helps isolate the interior of the house visually and acoustically from its urban surroundings, and provides a large opening on the envelope of the house, where light and shadow play enhance the colors and textures of the building throughout the day.

To tackle the challenges of a steep slopping site and a tight budget, architect Dan Rockhill used a slatted exterior screen of Cumaru wood to shields inexpensive metal sidings for this Kansas home.

Although John and Debby ditched the home’s acoustic ceiling tiles, they kept the living room’s original handmade windows for their vintage quality. The grouping of art above the fireplace is by Minneapolis-based artist Jay Heikes.

Illustration via drawastickman.com.

The kitchen in 1220 E. 12th Street House features floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on a serene grove of oak trees. The project was designed by Studio 804, a graduate student architecture and design program led by Dan Rockhill at the University of Kansas.

Torontonians Dan and Diane Molenaar head north to Drag Lake when they need a weekend away from urban life—though they brought some of the city with them. The mirrored windows that circle the cottage were recycled from two office towers in Toronto.

There are few walls in the home that abut, making it difficult to place this neon sculpture—untitled (to the real Dan Hill)—by Dan Flavin.