SHANGHAI: Andreas Rimkus, an artist from Germany believes people in noisy cities need peace and quiet as much as they need public lavatories.

He has created a project for Shanghai Expo 2010 - rooms sealed off to outside noise. Visitors will be able to enjoy a few minutes of "complete silence", according to Ing G. Czapiewski, who brought Rimkus' design to Shanghai.

An experimental room will be constructed later this year in the city.

"You will be able to hear your heart beat in the room total silence, nothing else," Czapiewski said.

Rimkus has named his project "Shanghai Art Station of Silence" (SASOS). The rooms come in many shapes and can be placed at various locations in Shanghai.

"We need silence, especially in a noisy metropolis like Shanghai. We need to rest in silence, just like we need public lavatories," Czapiewski said.

Rimkus previously exhibited at the Hanover Expo in 2000. He told the Oriental Morning Post when a SASOS appears in downtown Shanghai, it will be the first urban convenient shop where people consume silence.

According to Czapiewski, a silent room can hold up to 12 to 15 people. It has soft lights and the fragrance of a fresh forest.

"You enter the room by depositing a coin into a slot. Just like any other public facility," Czapiewski said.

His company, Fincolser Holland is helping to take artists from Europe to Shanghai, to contribute their creations to the Shanghai Expo.

Zheng Weiying, public relations manager of Fincolser Holland, said Rimkus may visit Shanghai in October.

(China Daily 08/08/2007 page5)