World Art Utopia

Sea Organ (Morske orgulje) — Nikola Bašić, Zadar

People sit, stand and lie on the white marble steps of the Sea Organ in Zadar, Croatia, which lead down into the sea along the waterfront.
Artwork FileZadar, Croatia

Sea Organ

SeenJul 2019

Nikola Bašić · 2005 · Zadar seafront, Croatia

Photo: Ben Snooks / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), as published in Street Art Utopia.

On Zadar's seafront in Croatia, Morske orgulje (the Sea Organ) is a flight of broad white marble steps that go down beneath the waves. Architect Nikola Bašić made it as part of the redesign of the city's new waterfront, and it opened to the public on 15 April 2005. Under the steps runs a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity, and the waves make somewhat random but harmonic sounds. In 2006 it shared the European Prize for Urban Public Space. Source Source Checked

Seen Jul 2019: dated aerial photo of the Zadar waterfront with the Sea Organ steps, 14 July 2019. Source Checked

More photos

Aerial view of the long stepped Sea Organ terraces along the Zadar waterfront in July 2019, with the old town behind
2019 The whole stepped seafront from the airPhoto: dronepicr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. Seven flights of ten metresBuilt in 2004-2005, the steps are made up of seven parallel flights, each ten metres wide. Source Checked
  2. Tubes and a resonating cavityConcealed under the steps is a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity; the waves create somewhat random but harmonic sounds. Source Checked
  3. Part of a new waterfrontBašić made the Sea Organ as part of the project to redesign Zadar's new city coast. Source Checked
  4. A shared European prizeIn 2006 the Sea Organ received the prize ex aequo of the fourth European Prize for Urban Public Space. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

On Zadar's seafront, Croatia. Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at the Sea Organ on Zadar's seafront.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 200515 Apr

    Opened to the public on Zadar's new seafront

  2. 201914 Jul

    Aerial waterfront photograph taken by dronepicr

Green stamps mark dated photographs (the date given on the photo’s page); amber stamps mark records, events and reports. Publication dates are not photo dates.

🗞️ In the sources

PublicSpace (CCCB)Undated page

Sea Organ

“The steps are made up of seven parallel flights, each one ten metres wide.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Architect
Nikola Bašić Source Checked
Collaborators
I. Stamać, V. Andročec, T. Heferer Source Checked
Opened
15 April 2005 Source Checked
Dimensions
Seven flights of 10 m; 1,700 m² Source Checked
Cost
€240,000 Source Checked
Award
European Prize for Urban Public Space 2006 (ex aequo) Source Checked
Pipes
35 pipes under the steps Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 11 November 2026 · How we verify art