Zadar Sea Organ “Morske orgulje”
Located inside of marble steps leading to the sea in Zadar, Croatia, is an experimental musical instrument that allows us to listen to the sea playing a pipe organ. It’s called The Sea Organ, known in Croatia as “Morske orgulje”, and it’s truly a beautiful spectacle.
How Does It Work?
As the seawater moves it pushes and pulls air in and out of the organ pipes which are installed above a resonating cavity at water level. Different lengths of pipe result in different notes being played when the air is pushed through the pipes. It is essentially a system of 35 very cleverly designed polyethylene tubes.
Part 1: The Sea Organ
Part 2: Sea Organ’s Night Time Light Show
Why Was It Built?
During the Second World War Zadar was devastated leaving the seafront needing major repairs. Rushed emergency reconstruction work resulted in the seafront becoming much of a single concrete wall, which wasn’t very attractive.
As part of a project to redesign and improve the cities coast called “Nova rive”, architect Nikola Bašić designed this rather extraordinary musical instrument. The marble steps leading down to the sea were added later which helped protect the sea organ and made the area more tourist-friendly.
Sea Light Show (Sun Salutation)
The organ is a tourist attraction that was opened to the public on April 15th, 2005, and has become part of the city the locals are very proud of. A few hundred meters away from the organ, there is a large floor filled with solar panels.
The area is a massive 22 meter (diameter) solar panel created using 300 multi-layered glass panels on top of a collection of solar cells. These solar cells collect the sun’s energy throughout the day and the entire waterfront uses this energy to light up at night time. This creates another natural display of beauty as well as being super sustainable.
The light panel also uses the energy collected from the Sea Organ and is supposed to represent the motion of the solar system.