Brionvega TS502 Radiocubo

When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandmother's house. Her kitchen was narrow, with dark wood cabinets to the ceiling. On the last top shelf was a very bright orange parallelepiped, with rounded edges and chrome profiles. I was 8 or 9 when I first saw it and was immediately fascinated by it.

I've never seen anything like it before. I asked my grandmother what it was, and she opened it separating the two halves and said "it's a radio!".

30 years later, when she sold her house, she told me to get what I wanted to furnish my house and I just got that radio.

Once at home, I did some research and found out that it was a Brionvega TS502, V / 2G version from the 70s. The first model was created by the Italian designer and architect Marco Zanuso and the German designer Richard Sapper in 1964.

It was a unique radio for its design, exhibited in several museums, including the MoMA in New York.

A TS502 that belonged to David Bowie was sold at auction in 2016 for an incredible amount!

My grandmother's radio is now on the living room furniture, right next to my LEGO display case. So I thought it would be great to be able to combine design and LEGO, to create a collector's item with an incredible history, which you can leave for your grandchildren.

The idea of ​​the project was to create a full size replica of my grandmother's Brionvega TS502 radio.

The closed radio has approximately the following measurements:

9 x 5 x 5 inches

23 x 13 x 13 cm

Pieces: 1275.

The left cube containing the radio speaker. On the top, there is the chrome handle that can be lifted, and the sockets for the external power supply and headphones. On the back of the cube, you can see some air vents.

The cube on the right contains the frequency adjusters, the TONO button and a selector that allows switching from MF to MA.

The hands of the two frequency regulators move by turning their respective knobs.

The MF / MA switch also works. Pressing one, the other is pushed outwards.

I could not recreate the extendable antenna as in the original radio, but it is possible to build it in two positions: fully closed or slightly raised.

The original model comes with a magnet to lock in two cubes once the radio is fully open. I recreated this peculiarity also in the LEGO project. The project is completed by the 4 feet, positioned in the lower part of the cubes.

I have to say that building it was a challenge, both to recreate the rounded lines, and to get the selector and frequency regulators to work.

I enjoyed it very much and hope you like it, and brings you joy, as it did for me when I saw the radio in my grandmother's kitchen. I hope you want to support the project.

I dedicate it to my grandmother, with the hope that one day I'll tell her that LEGO has produced an official set inspired by her radio.