our story
Pierluigi Pompei
Creative Director
Pierluigi Pompei is the creative director of Vocum Studio. He is a sculptor who confronts space, where architectural elements and sound inform his practice. The infinite and the immeasurable, frontiers, barriers and spaces that are not directly noticed, constitute the starting point.
With his work Pompei searches into the precise definition of space, for himself as well as for the spectator, using different materials and techniques.Pompei studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Rome, department of sculpture, where he graduated cum laude in 1993. In 1995 he received a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague.
His work has been exhibited in galleries, museums and cultural manifestations in The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Switzerland and outside Europe. Pompei received many art awards for his work, notably sculptural award - Culture Prize of The Hague, awarded every two years resulting in a major commission of a sculptural work.
Since 2007, Pompei has taught at the prestigious Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. He is a long-standing board member of the European Ceramic Work Center (EKWC) in the Netherlands
Adam Foxwell
Principal Audio Designer
Adam is the principal audio designer at Vocum Studio. He has worked in the field of wave physics, acoustics and optics for over 20 years.
He has designed acoustic systems and architecture for some of the most technically challenging projects in the world including the Burj Khalifa, DUSEL Neutrino observatory and several performing arts centres and stadiums with acoustics as the design driver.
Adam has a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2000 and a Master of Engineering from Penn State University in Acoustics in 2003.
He has taught acoustic courses at the Architecture department at University of Pennsylvania. He works globally for the Nordic acoustics firm Efterklang, part of AFRY and is based in Amsterdam.
Studio Vocum was founded by sculptor and ceramic artist Pierluigi Pompei and acoustician Adam Foxwell.
Inspired by synesthesia, the studio explores the relationship between sound, color, material and space through handcrafted ceramic loudspeakers.
Each piece is conceived as both a high-fidelity audio system and a sculptural object, bringing together art, design and acoustics within a single form.
Hearing Colours
For Studio Vocum, colour is never simply an aesthetic choice. Every Vocum series begins with listening, where sound becomes the starting point for the development of glazes, ceramic surfaces and colour palettes.
Each finish is carefully created to reflect the character, timbre and emotional quality of a particular listening experience.
From Sound to Colour
Each glaze is developed through an extended process of experimentation. Hundreds of ceramic samples are produced, fired and evaluated until the visual quality reflects the intended listening experience. Surface, texture, depth and light all contribute to the final perception of each piece.
Ceramic as an Acoustic Material
Ceramic is more than the outer shell of a loudspeaker. Its material density, stiffness and resonance characteristics contribute to the behaviour of the enclosure, while its handcrafted surfaces create a unique visual identity.
Every Vocum piece combines acoustic engineering with traditional ceramic craftsmanship. No two pieces are ever exactly the same.
“Working with ceramics allows us to play sound with extreme clarity. By handcrafting the circular forms and surface textures, we create acoustic conditions that project sound cleanly and in balance so you can hear all the nuances in the music."
Adam Foxwell, Principal Audio Designer
Awards
The Masterly Award
Milan Design Week 2023
Governor of Gifu Prefecture's Award
International Ceramics Exhibition Mino, Japan 2024
De Kei
Dutch National National Ceramics Prize, 2025
Listening Through Colour
The relationship between colour and sound has become one of the defining characteristics of Studio Vocum.
It informs not only the visual identity of each series, but also the way we think about listening: as a multisensory experience where material, colour, space and sound come together.
This approach originates from ceramic artist Pierluigi Pompei's synesthetic perception, through which musical tones are naturally experienced as colours. Each colour originates from the distinctive timbre of a musical instrument, carrying its own visual identity. When combined, these colours create layered atmospheres that reflect the polyphony of music, allowing sound, colour and ceramic material to resonate as a single expressive language.
The result is a collection in which colour and sound are inseparable. Every series explores a different sonic atmosphere, translated into carefully developed ceramic surfaces with their own material presence.