In September 1965, Brionvega introduced an object destined to make design history: the radiofonografo designed by brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
A complete hi-fi system that redefined the way people experience music at home, instantly becoming an icon recognized for its personality, function, and presence.
A friendly object that doesn’t hide, it lives within the space and makes it part of the listening experience.
Even today, the radiofonografo is born in Italy, handcrafted in limited numbers, with the same care that has ensured its success from the very beginning. Its journey spans generations: it enters the homes of artists, collectors, and design enthusiasts, and is part of the collections of major contemporary art museums. This recognition, immediate in 1965 and enduring to this day, makes it a timeless object, capable of remaining desirable beyond fashions and trends.
To mark its sixtieth anniversary, Brionvega presents a vinyl record. Not merely a symbolic object, but a gesture that gives voice to the soul of the radiofonografo through music, its primary function. Milan provides the natural backdrop: the city where the radiofonografo was born in 1965, home of the Castiglioni brothers, and the context in which Brionvega’s entrepreneurial and innovative philosophy developed and reached its peak. In those years, Milan was the capital of design, a fertile ground from which many of the most important Italian and international industrial design products emerged. It was a living laboratory, where industry, design, and culture intertwine and continue to inspire new paths.
The music is jazz, by elective affinity. Like the radiofonografo, it has transcended the conventions of its time, blended traditions, mastered the art of improvisation, and shaped new languages without losing its identity. The radiofonografo introduced a novel way of experiencing music at home, transforming from a technical device into a design icon and lifelong companion; jazz mirrors its creative freedom and its vocation for dialogue.
Side A features three tracks recorded in the studio by three young ensembles from the Milanese scene, each with its own character. The choice of three emerging groups is a statement of contemporaneity: at sixty years old, the radiofonografo continues to speak to the present and engage with today’s creators.
Side B captures the energy of the stage with three live recordings from a local club, conveying the atmosphere of the encounter and the spontaneity of the moment. Six tracks that compose a unique narrative, designed to coexist with the object and with those who choose it every day.
Material comes to life in an instant: it twists, melts, bursts into flame, and then vanishes. A sound that seems improvised, yet is shaped with intention, like a sculpture. It starts from an idea, then diverges, unravels, and is rebuilt. Every gesture leaves a mark, every note becomes a body. There is no need to define the moment when every form is still possible. Everything vibrates, because nothing is ever truly finished.
A sound that comes from another era yet belongs to none. Two voices chasing each other like shadows at dusk: distant, yet bound by the same light. A heartbeat that never breaks, a saxophone as compass, the night folding in on itself and stretching out. No urgency: only a breath that expands, a space that remains suspended. Some forms never age. Outside, time stands still; inside, only the music remains.
Three voices balanced without a net. No anchor, no support: only a measure that rewrites itself with every step. The sound is taut, electric, on the edge. A breath that cuts through daylight, strings that shine and snap, a rhythm that stumbles and rises again. No fixed form, yet every gesture has style. Like certain objects designed to last: not by following the rules, but by creating new ones. Tension becomes elegance, without ever losing its risk.
Sixty numbered copies, one for each year of the radiofonografo’s history, paired with the sixty units of the 60th Anniversary radiofonografo with the corresponding number.
The radiofonografo remains at the center. The vinyl accompanies it, expanding its story through the simplicity of enduring gestures: choosing a side, lowering the needle, sharing the time. This is how an object builds connections and transcends generations. This is how we celebrate its sixty years.
