Last week I told you about Milan's annual design fair, the Salon Internazionale del Mobile. The week-long event throws up all kinds of stuff, but the best often comes from strange collaborations, such as Sony's hookup with some high-end Italian master craftsmen back in 2007. This year is the turn of japanese AV manufacturer Kenwood who has gussied up with Italian designer Claudio Colucci. Together, they have come up with the Squeezophone 360, an enormous sculptural thingie that is both speaker and lamp.

Made from Corian, an acrylic substance usually used for kitchen countertops — and, occasionally, Ping Pong tables — the Squeezophone 360's hourglass shape has more than a nod to the human form. As the blurb has it, "this enigmatic creation unveils its secrets, little by little, revealing the secrets of its cells through its skin." So far, so dance of the seven veils, then.

Kenwood seems to be best known over here for its expensive in-car entertainment systems that don't push the aesthetic "Ooh" factor deep into the stratosphere. Colucci, on the other hand, does. He's got a dinky little website that's worth spending ten minutes on, as it's full of all sorts of beautiful objects.

Via Dezeen