Better Buy Design - The SodaStream

Swiss designer Yves Béhar updates a Seventies household icon (that was actually designed in 1903)

Though it seemed ubiquitous in every Seventies household the domestic carbonated drink-maker SodaStream was, in fact, invented in 1903. Since then, the design has altered surprisingly little. However, this has changed with award-winning California-based Swiss designer Yves Béhar reimagining its look for the new SodaStream Source, updating the family favourite for a contemporary, more environmentally conscious consumer, with a more streamlined, monolithic feel.

Yves Béhar, Sodastream

The minimal interface is in keeping with Béhar’s design philosophy - “reduce and refine”. The SodaStream, which makes carbonated drinks from tap water, has been redesigned with a minimal, reusable bottle that locks into place for its contents to be carbonated by a CO2 canister with an LED display showing the carbonation settings. The reusable elements lend a refreshing eco-consciousness to the old family favourite.

“Disposable water bottles are going away, and so they should,” says Béhar. “The design of Source was a process of elimination. Starting with the larger volume, we chiseled off the functional areas and sculpted transitions. The resulting form is the quality we focused on for the design of the SodaStream Source. It achieves its great feel through refined mechanical ingenuity.”

Yves Béhar, Sodastream

The new SodaStream Source will be unveiled at a special SodaStream bar at Milan’s International Design fair, which opens on April 17. The central SodaBar will provide all drinks throughout the design week, with refreshments from SodaStream machines replacing plastic alternatives. A chandelier made from 550 disposable plastic water bottles will highlight the amount of plastic waste that an average family could avoid in a year by using SodaStream Source.

Yves Béhar, Sodastream

SodaStream’s new design taps into a growing consumer consciousness of food and beverage waste. “The collaboration with Béhar was natural for us," says SodaStream CEO Daniel Brinbaum. "His track record proves that he is aligned with the same social sustainability and values as us, and his innovative designs are respected globally. World-class design is a prerequisite to securing space on the countertop, the most precious real estate in millions of kitchens worldwide." For SodaStream products and more information, visit the SodaStream website.

MOST, Salone del Mobile 2012
National Museum of Science and Technology
Via Olona 6, 20123 Milan, Italy
Entrance through Via Olona 6