Sound of the Squares

In 2007, Mannheim celebrated its 400th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the city of squares sent a multimedia cube, the Sound of Squares, on a tour of Germany. On board was a vast array of audio files, in keeping with Mannheim’s reputation for music. The basic shape was inspired by the famous squares on the Mannheim city map. Sound of the Squares featured three zones: the seating cubes, a collaborative form of audio interaction; the audio forest, an audio blog for host city residents; the audio lab, where visitors used audio sample cubes to create their own tracks. The project is designed to tour, and has covered 3,500km in 53 days. When darkness falls, the cubes become a platform for concerts.