In 1925 two Danish engineers in their mid-twenties got together in one of their parent’s attic to form a company. More than three-quarters of a century later, it had become synonymous with exceptional performance, quality, and design.

Those two young men were Peter Bang, who concentrated mostly on the technology, and Svend Olufsen, who looked after the business interests. They named their company (using considerably less creativity than when creating their inventions) Bang & Olufsen.

One of Bang & Olufsen’s first creations, the B&O Eliminator radio (1927) hinted at the direction the company would undertake in the future. The B&O Eliminator was revolutionary: it connected any battery-operated radio directly to the power point and eliminated the need for an accumulator, the norm up until those early days. The seeds were set for a pioneering company that focused on innovation, design, and user convenience.

The world did not have to wait long before Bang & Olufsen introduced another novel creation. In 1939 they released the famous Beolit 39, the first radio housed in a Bakelite case. But it has not been all plain sailing and the company has had to get over some hurdles in its 83-year history. In January 1945 their factory was burnt to the ground by pro-Nazi saboteurs in retaliation for the company management’s refusal to cooperate with the occupying forces. Bang & Olufsen were not deterred; they rebuilt the factory, re-opened 1946, and there it still stands to this very day.

Bang & Olufsen do not only strive for and develop the latest state-of-the-art technology in their products; what helps really set them apart from their competitors is design. The Company sees design as an integral part of their products and strives to make them modern, unique, eye-catching and exclusive. Their home entertainment products are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but when you see them in

the flesh you can really appreciate the quality of the materials used, such as top-quality polished aluminum and plastics. The standard of finish is also quite exquisite, with no loose squeaky buttons or dials. The mechanisms open and close effortlessly and quietly Bang & Olufsen do not employ a team of designers. Instead, they prefer to work with independents who are open to other forms of influence. But two designers have had a greater impact on the current direction of design at Bang & Olufsen than any others. The first is Jacob Jensen, who today is on the Foreign Ministry list of “Great Danes.” He worked with the company in various forms from 1964 to 1991, and designed over 200 products for them. The second is David Lewis, a Brit who graduated from the Central School of Art and Design in London, made his way to Denmark in 1960 after receiving a scholarship there, and has not looked back since. Lewis began as a freelance designer for Bang & Olufsen in 1965 and has ended up designing most of their products since 1980.

It’s a strategy that has seemed to work well for Bang &
Olufsen, as there are not too many other manufacturers of home entertainment equipment that can boast individual products with a design lifespan of a decade or more. Another Bang & Olufsen personality trait is integration. More than any other brand, Bang & Olufsen’s products are designed to be integrated with each other – sitting in your living room, you need only a single remote control to switch the radio on in the bedroom, or to switch off the CD player out on the patio. Bang & Olufsen can integrate your whole entertainment system throughout your entire house. Many seasoned customers visit their local Bang & Olufsen retailer when their homes are still on the drawing board, and the Bang & Olufsen customer service representatives then consult directly with the customer’s architect. The customer’s entertainment needs and preferences are easily incorporated into their new home, and the finished product is sleek, unctional, and very convenient. Who knows? Maybe the two young designers who started out in an attic eally did foresee, even back in 1925, that home entertainment systems would someday reach all the way towards the stars.

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