''Life Electric'' (also known as ''The Life Electric'') is a contemporary

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, dedicated to the physicist

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the ...

(1745–1827). Completed in 2015 it is located in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. ''Life Electric'' was designed by

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

, and was a gift to Como, the city where the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

located his ''“Summer Session”'' school of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, in 1988. The sculpture was commissioned by the non profit association ''“Gli amici di Como”''. The design of the fountain illustrates the evolution of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

that took place over the period from 1920s to modern days, with the emergence of

Rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...

. Libeskind's creation has carried on the tradition of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

in Como, and raised its profile.

History

The construction of ''Life Electric'' started in September 2014, with an estimated cost of €599,926.07. The project, reviewed by the architect and engineer Antonio Gianmarco Martorana Capsoni, and validated by the ''"Mercury Engineering"'' company SpA, was entirely donated to the municipality by Libeskind Design and

. Money for the construction work that helped to improve the resistance of the pier, and construction of the statue itself, was donated by ''Gli Amici Di Como''. The initial intention was to complete the project by 1 May 2015, the same day as the inauguration of

Expo 2015 Expo 2015 was a World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan International. The Bureau International des Expositi ...

, but, after 119 additional days of work, the project was finally completed in August 2015. There had been nineteen days of delay due to bad weather, and twenty-five days for a summer break in August. The inauguration took place on 2 October 2015, and was attended by the mayor of Como,

with his family and Luigi Martino Volta, the nephew of

and

Nastassja Kinski Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; , ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with ''Stay as You Are'' (1978). She then came to gl ...

; the event was held in the Yacht Club of Como with a buffet, a toast and the presentation of a new ice-cream flavor, named Life Electric, created by a local artisan ice cream shop. Afterwards, the ceremony moved to the hangar of the Aereo Club of Como.

Location

''Life Electric'' is located on the very end of the Diga Foranea pier, which was consolidated before the construction of the statue. The pier is accessible to visitors, and the entrance can be reached from the Lungolago Mafalda di Savoia, which ends with the

Tempio Voltiano The ' (Italian; Volta Temple in English) is a museum in the city of Como, Italy that is dedicated to Alessandro Volta, a prolific scientist and the inventor of the electrical battery. Volta was born in Como in 1745, held his first professorship ...

. The project's intention was to convey a sense of continuity through the approach to the statue. The location was chosen to give greater visibility to the sculpture, and to celebrate both Volta and the scientist Piero Caldirola, after whom the pier is named

Structure

The sculpture is 13.75 meters tall (14.25 including the base). It has the appearance of two opposing sinusoidal projections. At its base there is a circular containment wall made of stones 75 cm high, containing a stretch of water in which the monument is reflected. The water at the base is 10 cm deep, and its bottom is decorated with a squared motif. The base has been modified to let people sit beneath the statue, and look over the surroundings from a central point of view. The statue has a total weight of 11,000 kg (12.125 tons). It could not be transported by land because of its size, and so it was transported across the lake with barges, and installed on the pier with a special crane. The original structure of the base would not have been able to sustain the weight and dimensions of the monument, and so it was previously strengthened. This work took place during February 2015, and involved divers building scaffolding to a depth of 3 meters in the lake.

Design

''Life Electric'' takes inspiration from the

electric tension Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...

existing between the two poles of a battery. It creates an idealistic third pole, located between the Faro Voltiano and the

, both attributed to the

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

inventor, Alessandro Volta. The sculpture is designed to suggest connections among three of the five natural elements: light, wind and water. Libeskind's artwork aims to create geometries that connects the sky, lake and mountains, elements that typify the Lake Como landscape; the interaction between these three elements produces a monumental geometric power, as a metaphor for Volta's electric power. The structure is made of calendared steel, coated by 316,6 mm thick steel panels. The illumination consists of a led waterproof system with smoke machines, (with over 300 output points) and was designed to create games of lights during the night, while the steel used for the coating reflects Como and its natural environment during the day.

Controversies

On 22 October 2014 the

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

''Adesso Como'' started a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

asking the citizens if they wanted the statue on the lake. By December 28 the petition collected 4478 signatures, exceeding by 278 the minimum amount required to start a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

against the construction of the statue, which was considered by some architects and citizens as having a negative impact on the lake landscape. On 5 August 2015, the local newspaper ''La Provincia'' announced the impossibility of proceeding with the referendum because the construction was at too advanced a stage, and also because of the cost of the referendum, which would have been €180,559

Images

File:Flyer - Life Electric 01.jpg, Inauguration Flyer - Front File:The Life Electric.jpg, View from Diga Foranea File:View - Life Electric.jpg, Foreground view

References

External links

Municipality of Como ''Life Electric''Map of ComoDefinitive project
{{Coord, 45, 48, 55.4, N, 9, 04, 48.9, E, type:landmark, display=title Sculptures in Italy Outdoor sculptures in Italy Stainless steel sculptures 2015 sculptures Tourist attractions in Lombardy Tourist attractions in Como Cultural infrastructure completed in 2015 Buildings and structures in Como Daniel Libeskind designs