Pähni Megaphones

Anyone who is sick and tired of the peace and quiet afforded by the solitude of nature should head over to Estonia’s Võru county forest and take a listen through the giant wooden microphones found in their clearing. 

These wooden tubes were installed in a clearing deep within the Estonian forest by a group of interior architecture students. Since the region is known for its natural beauty, they decided to create the over-sized amplifiers to enhance the sounds of the waving trees and birds singing. The project was named RUUP. Installed far from any homes or other signs of civilization, the cones have nothing to pick up but the natural sounds emanating from the flora and fauna all around.

In addition to pumping up the scenic volume, the megaphones are large enough to climb inside and sit or lay down. In fact when the project was finally complete, musicians came and played music while seated right in the funnels. It is pretty hard to improve on nature, but increasing the decibels seems to be pretty effective.  

Each of the three megaphones is even placed so that were you to stand in the middle of their directional cones, it could in theory have a 3D effect on the sounds. In reality it is really difficult to tell as the forest overwhelms you.