Sea organ

For the similar device in San Francisco, California, see Wave Organ. For the device in Blackpool, UK, see Blackpool High Tide Organ.

Sea organ in scaled form - the sound emerges from the holes along the top step

The Sea organ is an architectural object located in Zadar, Croatia and an experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps.^[1] The waves create somewhat random but harmonic sounds. The device was made by the architect Nikola Bašić as part of the project to redesign the new city coast (Nova riva), and the site was opened to the public on 15 April 2005.^[2]

History

Chaotic reconstruction work undertaken in an attempt to repair the devastation Zadar suffered in the Second World War turned much of the sea front into an unbroken, monotonous concrete wall. The Sea Organ has drawn tourists and locals alike. Now, this project sees the construction of white marble steps leading down to the water. Concealed under these steps, which both protect and invite, is a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity that turns the site into a large musical instrument, played by the wind and the sea.

In 2006, the Sea Organ was awarded with the prize ex-aequo of the fourth edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space.^[3]

See also

• Water organ
• Hydraulophone
• Hydraulis

References

1. ^ Sea Organs of the World
2. ^ Stamac, I: Acoustical and Musical Solution to Wave-driven Sea Organ in Zadar, Proceedings of the 2nd Congress of Alps-Adria Acoustics Association and 1st Congress of Acoustical Society of Croacia, pages 203-206, 2005.
3. ^ Crevar, Alex (2008-07-06). "After 2,000 Years, a Croatian Port Town Still Seduces". New York Times. http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/travel/06next.html. Retrieved 2009-10-22. 

External links

• Sound and video of sea organ on Sound Tourism site
• The Odd Instrument Collection's collection of sea organs from around the world.
• Oddmusic's Sea Organ Page
• Sea organ / Morske orgulje photo pool
• Morske orgulje, prize ex-aequo of the fourth edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space

Coordinates: 44°07′02″N 15°13′12″E / 44.11722°N 15.22°E / 44.11722; 15.22