Forests. Home of trees, a source of biodiversity. A place of calmness. Allow us to breathe, listen, to detach. A place to meditate. Forests are the versatile, green superpower of planet Earth. They are the globe’s largest carbon sink, habitat for wildlife and a regulating ecosystem. They produce oxygen and purify water. For humans, they are a refuge to connect with nature, unwind and relax.

While many countries struggle to provide these opportunities due to little forest cover, the Baltic nation of Latvia is home to vast and healthy woodlands spread across the country. In the east-central part of Latvia, the forests surrounding a small tea farm, one of those places that allow guests to immerse themselves in the grounding experience woodlands can offer. Located only 100km from the capital Riga, the retreat is placed in an area densely rich in natural resources, with both forests and meadows shaping the landscape. Imagine a forest cabin that is able to amplify all of this, imagine the cabin becoming an amplifier itself - a “silence amplifier”.

The Silence Amplifier is a forest cabin that is able to augment the impressions of nature, allowing guests to meditate in a natural, yet sheltered environment. The goal of the design serves two purposes: on the one hand, the cabin shall enhance the guest’s ability to meditate in a living environment. This is achieved by amplifying the “silence of the forest” within the cabin through collection and concentration of the sounds of the natural surrounding that the cabin is placed in. On the other hand, the cabin is designed in a way to exist in symbiotic harmony with its natural environment, both by means of its shape, materials used and energy self-sufficiency.

Aplifying silence

Instead of simply creating a building, we are proposing to create an architectural organism that is able to collect the silence of the forest, channel it and provide it to the person in the cabin in an amplified and customizable manner. We understand the silence of the forest as a metaphor for the unique soundscape environment that supports the practice of silent meditation in the forest.
To achieve the amplification of silence, the cabin is designed in a conic shape able to transmit and to magnify sounds from the large outside into the narrowing inside. A high-fidelity sound system composed of 30 microphones positioned on the outside of the cabin and connected to an equal number of speakers inside, will further enhance the guest’s “silence” experience. The 360 o soundscape generated is completely customizable
by the guest who is able to adjust the different sound levels, reduce or increase the volume or even turn the system off. During warmer seasons the guest can create direct contact with the outdoors by opening the big window or using the accessible green roof for a complete open-air meditation experience

Symbiosis with the environment

Merging the cabin with the surrounding landscape makes it a living, symbiotic part of the forest. To achieve this, the cabin’s shape softly merges into the forest ground with minimal disturbance of the natural surroundings. Following the ideal to return to the forest what has been taken from it, the cabin’s living roof serves as an extension of the forest bed, allowing forest vegetation to grow on it.
All materials used for constructing structural elements, façade cladding and finishing are locally-sourced. Considering the challenging environmental conditions and isolated location of the cabin, energy autonomy is an essential aspect of the design. The cabin relies on burning local timber in a firewood stove to provide energy for heating and cooking.

Materials and construction solutions

We propose using CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) for the Silence Amplifier, due to its modularity and cost-efficiency. The conical design features a large front window, minimizing heat loss. Local pine wood, treated with natural oil, will be used for structural panels and exterior cladding, while birch wood will finish the interior and furniture.

The 15 m² living area is slightly elevated for natural floor ventilation. Guests enter into an open space with a small kitchen and firewood stove. The central meditation platform doubles as a workspace and sleeping area with a fold-out bed. The left-hand wall offers teas from the farm. A small enclosed area contains a dry toilet and manual pump sink. At the rear, a separate storage area holds water tanks, timber logs, and a small battery for lights and sound, accessible only from the outside for staff use. The building features a green roof, providing an outdoor meditation and viewing platform during warm seasons.

Credits

Project developed in collaboration with Matthias Kimmel.

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