"Habitable Sculpture", a cork art piece, will be on exhibition from 15th July at the Belem Cultural Center in Lisbon. This art piece was designed by architect Miguel Arruda, with the support of Amorim Cork Composites, a member company of CORTICEIRA AMORIM and was included on the CCB Fora de Si Festival, the Biennial Art Show 2010 and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
The size of this sculpture fully covered with cork - a courtesy of CORTICEIRA AMORIM - is 9 x 10 x 5 meters and will be exhibited in the CCB's Jardim das Oliveiras until the end of October.
In designing the "Habitable Sculpture," Miguel Arruda focused on creating a piece that could awaken a certain kind of habitability. Cork turned out to be a prime raw material in achieving the desired effect. In addition to the sculpture's outer surface covered with cork, the material selected for the base of this art piece was Fibricork, a 100% green product manufactured by Amorim Cork Composites.
"Considering the degree of opacity and temperature, cork is the most suitable material to be used to cover the inner and outer surfaces of this Habitable Sculpture. Indeed, the physical quality of its outer surface - the bark - and its inner surface - the belly - permits the piece to be interpreted as an outer space and an inner space in architecture" stresses Michael Arruda.
This "Habitable Sculpture" aims to arouse the curiosity of the visitors, who are invited to briefly inhabit it, to sensorily feel the cork, experiencing an effect of 4th dimensionality.
Being a solution for covering walls, ceilings and floors, cork has been consolidating its position as an innovative material in harmony with nature. Cork - a 100% natural, renewable and recyclable raw material - was the material used in the Pavilion of Portugal in Shanghai. Cork fits perfectly with the new values of a sustainable development and has been arousing an increasing interest and international profile.
