Invisible Mountain
Conceived and designed by Giovanni Betti (Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley) and Arch. Katharina Fleck, the installation narrates the story of the Presena Glacier in the Italian Alps and the communities that live with it. Climate change has already risen average yearly temperatures in the Alps by twice as much the global average. To save this glacier from the rising temperatures the nearby community started covering ports of it in 2008 to protect the snow from solar radiation in the summer. Their efforts paid off and the area that needed protection kept on growing. Today more than 100,000 sqm of glacier are covered every summer in a special geotextile to prevent melting. Aiming at raising awareness of the increasingly complex relationship with the natural environment the design and fabrication of the installation was supported by the students of the elective course in structural analysis offered by Prof. Christoph Gengnagel. The resulting aerial structure is a special type of cable-membrane structure that required careful planning to allow the textile to be draped in the shape of the glacier it aims to protect. Students learned about digital physics simulation, digital fabrication and hands-on production of the installation. After a first installation in the atrium of the UdK in March, a select group of tutors and students have travelled to Venice for the final installation in the Italian Pavilion at the Arsenale as part of the Architecture Biennale 2021. https://theinvisiblemountain.com
