‘Ruup’ is the name of each three gigantic wooden megaphones (of a diameter of three metres) that inhabit the Estonian forest, created to amplify the sounds of nature.
This intervention is located in the Võru County, specifically in the fir forest by the RMK Pähni Nature Centre. Thanks to the commitment of the local community, a group of architecture students supported by the Estonian Academy of Arts built and installed three giant wooden megaphones. These structures with conical shapes, called “ruup”, measure three meters in diameter and offer plenty of space inside for reading and resting. It is also a potential shelter for hikers and walkers, but also a platform for outdoor lessons, small cultural events and concerts.
The idea of the students was to create a library within the woods that amplified the tranquil sounds of nature, such as the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves. As noted by Valdur Mikita, writer and semiologist involved in the project: “The hallmark of Estonia is both the abundance of sounds and the silence found in the forest; thoughts can be heard in the megaphone. It is a place for browsing the ‘book of nature’, for listening and reading the forest through sound “.
Hannes Praks, board advisor and head of the interior design department at the Estonian Academy of Arts, spoke about the project’s remote location: “The further we move away from the vibrant Tallinn, the better we are able to perceive low-frequency vibrations of nature”.
As mentioned on Designboom, the students were instructed by architects Aet Ader, Karin Tõugu, Kadri Klement, and Mari Hunt from the architecture office b210, and the designers Tõnis Kalve and Ahti Grünberg from derelict, a company that creates re-purposed furniture. the construction of the megaphones was financed by RMK and the interior architecture department of the EAA. The opening events also received help from the Estonian Cultural Endowment.
This experiment is working for now. No surprise for the Baltic country, where forests cover about 45% of the territory and constitute the main natural resource, where environmental activism played a decisive role after independence, and among the first in the world for innovation, dissemination and use of new technologies.
archithoughts 