These Massive Wooden Megaphones Amplify The Sound Of Nature

Ever wondered if Mother Nature has anything to say beyond the distant cricketing of crickets and the light rustling of leaves? Just a few days ago we featured the coolest hand-crafted speakers we’d ever seen, designed to amplify the sounds of the earth. But it turns out, it’s not as one-of-a-kind as we thought, this concept. If you take a trip to Estonia’s Pahni Nature Centre, you’ll be able to hear everything that nature has to tell you, thanks to the wooden gramophones that have been installed in the forest by the most enthusiastic bunch of people around.

A team of Estonian Academy of Arts interior architecture students constructed three 10-feet diameter gramophones, following an idea pitched by one of their classmates, Birgit Õigus, in order to create a space where people who sit back, relax and enjoy while being surrounded by the thick dense forest.

The students built the entire structure themselves, under the guidance of designers Tõnis Kalve and Ahti Grünberg and had them installed in the forest a few weeks ago, on September 18. Most of the installation was built in Tallinn at the end of August and then shipped to Võrumaa, Pähni Nature Centre, not far from Latvian border, where it has been installed.

These structures are meant to act as a ‘bandstand’ which acts as a resting space for nature lovers, as well as a small stage for musical performances.
This series of timber megaphones has gained a lot of international traction for its architectural design and the three-fold purpose it serves. The idea behind the project is to help attune our senses to the rich aural environment that surrounds us, while also providing a space to sit back and relax.

According to interior architect, Hannes Praks, who leads the Interior Architecture Department of the school that initiated the installation project, the three megaphones have been placed at such a distance and angle so that at the centre of the installation, the sound feed from all three directions should create a unique, merged, surround-sound effect.

The project started a year ago with a workshop deep in the woods of South Estonia, with Estonian Art Academy interior architecture students trying to define the concept of a forest library with Valdur Mikita, an Estonian semiotician and popular author and this project was selected from the hundreds of proposals that poured in. Mikita, who has written at length about the forests of Estonia and its deep influence in the Estonian culture when asked about the project, said, “It’s a place to listen, to browse the audible book of nature – there hasn’t really been a place like that in Estonia before.”

With 51 per cent of Estonia boasting of forests, these areas are an integral part of the everyday life of the locals. Trekking and camping in the forest cabins or in tents are common hang out routines. As a result, the authorities don’t charge a penny, even from foreigners, to gain access into the forest, which means all you have to do is book your ticket to this beautiful country as soon as possible to be a part of this surreal acoustic experience.

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