Public Sculpture

Idealmodell

public commission for Malmö University, Malmö, SE
1998

5000 pieces of different pipes hanging from the ceiling in the form of a round column materials: plastic, rubber, steel, copper, wire
dimensions: 20 x 5 x 5 m

client: Statens Konstråd
project manager: Anders Kappel

––––

Malmö’s new university is being built in the harbour, an area characterized by heavy industry. The sculpture clearly refers in its form to the large grain silos behind the building. The idea is to create a linking reference between what previously dominated the site – i.e. industry – and what will characterize the future in the form of education, research and culture.

Pipes can be seen as a metaphor for connecting elements, something that creates a flowing communication. The sculpture, with its multitude of different parts, hangs in the air like an ideal thought model, an image that thematizes the possibility of rebuilding and combining different parts. Its exterior indicates the outline of a container, within which ideas and thoughts can flow in all directions and trajectories.