Terra Forming Terra: Gigantic Wooden Megaphones

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Gigantic Wooden Megaphones

This is a rather lovely idea that needs to be applied in parks generally. The amount of wood used here is daunting and the outside shell needs to made from something more weather proof. costs can be brought down and the floor can be concrete as well to provide a secure foundation. Add in metal screen park benches to allow additional use as a shelter and it becomes almost utilitarian.

The need is certainly there and folks do want their hearing augmented around nature. I think that we will be seeing these in a park near you..

All in an inspired idea and here it is well executed as well.

Gigantic Wooden Megaphones Amplify the Quiet Sounds of a Natural Forest

By Sara Barnes September 23, 2015

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/estonian-academy-of-arts-ruup-forest-megaphones

On display in an Estonian forest near Tallinn is ruup, an installation of three gigantic wooden megaphones that amplify the typically-quiet sounds of nature. The project was created by interior architecture students at the Estonian Academy of the Arts, and it’s intended as a site of relaxation. Here, visitors can enjoy the symphony of the forest—faintly chirping birds, rustling leaves, and babbling brooks are now within earshot. In addition to intensifying the surrounding environment, these three-foot-diameter instruments serve as bandstands for cultural events and concerts, as well as shelters for wanderers, hikers, and campers.

The students’ project was launched a year ago, but has just recently come to fruition. It began with a workshop deep in the South Estonian woods, and they worked with semiotician and author Valdur Mikiti to create a “forest library,” a place where people could listen and “read” through sound. They proposed several concepts, but ultimately settled on student Birgit Õigus’ idea of the massive megaphone sculptures.

If you're in Estonia and interested in seeing the megaphones for yourself, Ruup is situated near RMK’s Pähni Nature Center in a remote locale so that visitors can disconnect and truly feel at one with nature.

Above photo credit: Tõnu Tunnel

Photo credit: Tõnu Tunnel