15 Questions with Michael DiTullo (Part 3)

By Alexis Wagman

Carnegie acquired Kirei in 2022 to strengthen the availability of truly sustainable Acoustic products and services in the A&D industry. Michael’s elevated perspective on designing objects that we interact with has recently brought collections like the Tessellate Collection to the market, an innovative collection of 5 new acoustic products that offer stunning visual drama to enhance the consumer experience of any space. We were curious to hear more about his experience at Kirei and more about the industry at large.

Be sure to check out parts one and two of this interview to read more about Michael's inspiration, design philosophy, and journey to becoming an Industrial Designer.

How have you seen acoustics evolve in your time with Kirei?

I think the biggest shift over the last few years is that we have seen acoustics move from an afterthought that needed to disappear as much as possible to a key part of the design theme of space. The acoustic products not only need to perform, they also have a visual performance demand and that is really exciting as an industrial designer. It is a real pleasure as a creative person to see what interior designers and architects do with the products we create. Sometimes they use them in ways I never would have imagined to create visual impact!

What are the factors to be considered for good acoustic design?

There’s two key factors that I like to think about when acoustically designing a space. One is increasing the amount of soft material in that space as much as possible, and two is increasing the amount of geometry in that space. When you bring things like upholstered chairs and drapery into a room, that's going to reduce echo because it's absorbing sound waves. The same happens when you bring PET type materials into a room. When you add PET to the walls it’s going to act like a sponge and absorb and break down sound waves. The other thing to think about is the floor and the ceiling. Can you bring soft materials to the floor and ceiling? A lot of people forget about the ceiling, but that’s a huge reflective surface. The more baffles you can put onto the ceiling the more it will break up sound. 

Now that gets into the geometry of a room. Think about this: what's the most echoey room you can think of? It’s an empty room with four walls. There's nothing to impede those sound waves from bouncing back at you. When you increase geometry in the ceiling by adding baffles, that’s going to refract sound waves instead of them bouncing back at you. The same thing happens when you add PET tiles that have a lot of geometry.

What are the benefits of good acoustic design?

We have all been in a loud cafe, an echoey office, a conference room where the presenter can’t be heard. It can be really distracting at best or even frustrating. A person can not enjoy a space like that no matter how much went into designing the perfect flow and getting the finishes just right. The benefit of good acoustic design is it allows people to really focus on what the space is supposed to be used for and enjoy their time there!

What is your favorite product at Kirei that you've designed?

One of my favorite products that I’ve designed at Kirei is Level Fins. The reason why I love this product is because it's a system and it’s really easy to specify because it's highly modular. It doesn’t come as a tile or a sheet, it comes as a series of planks. This makes it really easy for a designer to specify for a very specific length, as well as customize the color and shape of the planks and fins, giving the designer a lot of options. 

We also thought about shipping and installation. It ships flat so the costs are lower resulting in less energy use. In terms of installation, because the planks and fins are  individual pieces it makes it easy to cut on sight to account for things like light switches and outlets. It’s dimensional, and improves the acoustics of the space. We thought about everyone involved: the designer, the installer, as well as the end user. 

What makes a ceiling stand out to you?

At Kirei we often say the ceiling is the 5th wall of the room. It can be all too easy to save time and budget by just painting an open ceiling black and letting the HVAC and lighting be what they are, or speccing ACT and calling it a day. Sometimes those are the right solutions but often they can be a missed opportunity to give people a special moment as they look up. I think of someone sitting at their desk or in a conference room and taking a 5 second mental break looking up at that ceiling. Or someone waiting for a coffee in a busy metro cafe and taking a moment to look up instead of down at their phone. I think certain ceilings call for show stopping visual impact, but most of them just need a bit of attention. There can be this beautiful balance between not commanding the attention of your eye but also if you take the time to look up realizing it is really special. The average person moving through the space should not even realize that those beautiful elements are also correcting the acoustics of the space!

Do you have any predictions for upcoming design trends? 

I think the very nature of design trends is changing. When I first started as a professional designer 25 years ago, the internet was really young. When you traveled around you'd see these regional trends. What was going on in New York was very different from what was going on in LA, Tokyo, or London. As we got into the 2000’s and blogs and social media happened, there was this massive flattening. Trends would happen and then disseminate globally within a couple of months. We saw these massive trends move through the industry really quickly one after another. Now, I think we’re getting to this point where trends are becoming a thing of the past – or maybe you can think of it as there are so many microtrends that are happening simultaneously. It’s not really about following trends. It’s about creating the right space for the right client and the right end user and then executing that flawlessly. I think that is the future of trends. 

This wraps up the third and final part of this conversation. We want to thank Michael for sitting down with us and giving our audience an insightful look into the industry and his experiences. To learn more about Michael, head to his website here. If you would like to submit questions on anything design-related for future installments of the series we'd love to hear from you! Email questions to: acousticdesignservices@carnegiefabrics.com.