Monument to Eduard Tubin

Architects

Veronika Valk-Siska
ZiZi & YoYo Architecture

Co-authors

Aili Vahtrapuu (sculptor), Louis Dandrel (sound)

Competition

2004, 1st prize

Location

Theatre Vanemuine, Tartu, Estonia

Size

228m2

Status

Completed in 2005

Client

Tartu City

Photos

ZiZi & YoYo Architecture

Typology

Awarded Projects, Landscape and Urban Planning, Public Projects

Tags

Competition, Tartu

Eduard Tubin was one of the most popular Estonian composers of his time. This monument was built in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The interactive light and sound installation allows the visitor to hear fragments of his music either by punching the gongs on the wall, or sitting on the concrete seats covered by black rubber, which emit light onto the white surfaces on the ground and the wall. Both light and sound are programmed so that the visitor could rearrange the sequence of the musical fragments according to their own liking. In the evening and the dark half of the year light and sound act following a pre-programmed composition. Loudspeakers arranged in 4 rows or groups create a waving soundscape on the slope between the theatre and the river. The monument resembles a giant drum set, where people can joyously dance in between the seats playing the gongs, initiating fragments from Tubin’s music.

Hence emerges a spontaneous site specific choreography including young and old, students and office workers. Local teachers often take their pupils to the monument for outdoor music or history classes.