Hydra
The Hydra in the Waterpavilion is constantly changing color and sounds travel through it. The sound is like a foreign language, you can follow the verbal flow but it remains incomprehensible. The Hydra is a continuous object. It’s multiple lines travel through the entire pavilion. The Hydra keeps following the visitor: sometimes as construction, sometimes as interface but always transmitting information by ways of light and sound. Within the Hydra there are multi-colored fiberoptic cables and every 2 meters an active speaker system á All fibers and speakers are individually controlled by a central computer and react on visitors, changing weather conditions or pre-programmed algorithms. The Hydra also functions as a load bearing column structure to hold the twisted floor, hence the art contributes structurally to the architecture.
Design team: Ilona Lénárd [3d sketch], Kas Oosterhuis, Menno Rubbens | commissioned by Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment | Neeltje Jans 1997