soundshowers - relaxing art

20/Aug/2007 Filed in: Tools

A series of art installations at Gardemoen Airport in Norway that genuinely serve the needs of travelers. Back in 1998 when Oslo's glittering new airport was built, eleven Soundshowers designed by the Artist Anna Karin Rynander and Engineer Per-Olof Sandberg, were installed in the main terminal and new railway station.

The intention was to create a new kind of facility for visitors in a public place - a refreshing shower of positive and calming sounds. As visitors enter circle shaped floor marks, sounds begin to play. The sounds are clearly audible for the user but virtually suppressed for others due to the shape of the cleverly designed sound lens.

Each Soundshower is equipped with a computer, a digital sound library and a control program that contains random parameters and rules for how the sounds are assembled. Since the sound streams are composed in real time, unique experiences are created for each visit.