
In contrast to last year’s Nature Concert Hall that comprised an angular pavilion, the 2016 iteration was created as a “levitating cloud” that hovers above a bandstand. The black origami bats were inspired by the common long-eared bat (Plecotus Auritus) that can be found living in Latvia year-round but are facing downward trends in population numbers due to human-induced changes.

Related: Latvia’s Nature Concert Hall has a fabric skin that plays with the wind
In a bid to raise awareness and appreciation of the bats, the designers created a giant cloud-like mass made from black pieces of paper folded into bat-like shapes. The bats are suspended in a giant net and carefully spaced to create an interesting gradient. The mass is opaque enough to double as a screen for video projections and light installations. “The volume of the cloud is referring to flocking bird and bat created dynamic geometries that can be found in nature,” write DJA. “To achieve maximum lightness and levitation effect art installation is suspended in 3 paired electricity columns far away each from another.”
+ Didzis Jaunzems Architecture
+ Nature Concert Hall
Images by Uldis Lapins