Art derives from skill or knowledge (nosse aut posse), maybe from both; certainly, both great skill and great knowledge are necessary to create art. He who has knowledge but no skills is a theorist; therefore he cannot be trusted with actually making something; he who has skills but no knowledge is a mere craftsman—when both elements come together a true artist is born.
Johann Gottfried von Herder, 1800
Art—especially handcrafted art—enjoys a high reputation in building biology. Only by combining craftsmanship and art an atmosphere is created that imparts a space with individuality and touches people.
At the Institute of Building Biology + Sustainability IBN, it was important to us to showcase this right at the entryway. We found an exceptionally gifted artist from our region, the glass artist Florian Lechner from Nußdorf am Inn. He gave us the following words to go with his glass sculpture:
Floating rods
Where bamboo + glassNature + light meetThe elements of the sculpture may appear random;
however, they have been designed
following the golden ratio.The bamboo rods form the supporting structure.
The glass rods reflect and shine.
Light + blue, symbols between sky, air, and water.For the building biology context, it was important to me
to combine the natural material bamboo with the
first substance ever made by humans —glass.
Prior to installing the light sculpture, Florian Lechner wrote to us: The design has been completed now. Tough, it was difficult, I am confident now that, despite the complex architectural specifications, it will make for a well-balanced composition of light. Its geometry is based on the Fibonacci series, without coming off as too pretentious or restrictive. I chose 42 delicate prisms whose hues range from blue to white-transparent and that, for the most part, should be suspended vertically. The sculpture has spatial dimensions and the prisms make for a beautiful light effect. The center reaches lower than the outer ring. The rings on the sketch are an “imaginary system” that is derived from the mounting points of the prisms. The largest ring, which contains 10 of the prisms, has a diameter of 144 cm (56.7 in), the next 89 cm (35 in), then 45 cm (17.7 in), 21 cm (8.3 in), 13 cm (5.1 in), and 8 cm (3.2 in). The five bamboo rods are suspended from the ceiling at two “ring points.”
For more information about Florian Lechner’s glass art:
- Book “Florian Lechner und Glas” (Arnoldsche Verlagsanstalt)
