2022
On September 1, on the occasion of its 45 anniversary, INVAP, a technological company of the province of Río Negro, announced the launch of a national Sculpture Contest with the purpose of selecting an artistic work to be purchased and installed at its headquarters, in San Carlos de Bariloche.
The proposal by the artist and architect Cristóbal Farmache from the province of Mendoza, entitled “Spore”, was selected as the winner by the jury of the contest, which was organized as a tribute to INVAP’s founding group.
The work represents the company’s birth and evolution, characterized by a great capacity for adaptation and flexibility in adopting new forms in response to the changing national and international contexts; but, always respecting its essence and the motivations behind its founding: To be a tool for Argentina’s development, investing in our intellectual capability.
The proposal features a stainless steel structure modeled in 3D, which rises above a large fountain, a concrete eggshell that supports it.
The structure grows organically upon itself, mirroring INVAP’s evolution that is based on its experience, continuously transforming and projecting itself into the future.
In the project description, the author points out that the work symbolizes evolution through the accumulation of knowledge from the past. It is an object in search of a summit and in constant transformation; a fractal reproduction of its own thumbnail. It is a metaphor for the development of knowledge as the foundation of human evolution.
The fountain’s lighting emulates the Cherenkov effect produced in nuclear reactors. This makes a direct reference to the company’s origins in nuclear activity.
In the design matrix of the work of art, the hexagon stands out. Its structure provides great stability and is one of the most efficient shapes in nature, also used in aerospace developments due to its high strength.
INVAP will then conduct technical and administrative feasibility studies that will lead to the project construction, which is expected to be inaugurated by September 2022.
It is important to remember that more than a hundred proposals were submitted from different places of the country, which were assessed by a jury composed of the Art Historian and Critic María José Herrera, Sculptor Jorge Gamarra, Sculptor and Architect Mimo Eidman, as well as Verónica Garea and Marcos Radicella as representatives of INVAP.
INVAP would like to take this opportunity to once again express its special gratitude to all the individuals and groups who participated in this project.
