丨爱沙尼亚丨学生Birgit Õigus

Forest Megaphone

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

These architectural objects are “gigantic wooden megaphones” for the forest, part of an acoustic installation in Estonia’s gorgeous

Pähni Nature Centre

for amplifying the sounds of the landscape.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

“According to interior architect Hannes Praks,” we read in a newly published press release, “who leads the

Interior Architecture Department of the [Estonian Academy of Arts]

that initiated the installation project, the three-metre diameter megaphones will operate as a ‘bandstand’ for the forest around the installation, amplifying the sounds of nature.”

The actual design is by a student named Birgit Õigus.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

Part building, part furniture, part recreational folly, they’re meant to focus visitor attention on the smallest acoustic details of the site—rainfall, branches brushing against one another in the breeze, distant footsteps, thunder.

[Image: Photos by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

Sit in them, read books, whisper to friends, listen to birds.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

Not having visited these in person, I can’t speak to their performance—i.e. whether they function as planned—and the relatively orderly placement of each structure in the woods might very well lead to some unfortunately conservative acoustic effects.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

Nonetheless, it’s a great idea for a project, and the geometric simplicity of the stained timber frame is compelling.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

Of course, these bring to mind the so-called “acoustic mirrors” of coastal Britain that we looked at here

more than a decade ago

.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].

In turn, makes me wonder how these forest megaphones might appear six or seven decades from now, when small groups of hikers stumble upon the moss-covered forms of this old acoustic infrastructure, trying to determine amongst themselves if the strange audio effects and interrupted echoes they notice still filtering through the wooden forms are a curious accident or an engineered goal.

[Image: Photo by

Tõnu Tunnel

].