SHELL OF GLOBE “SAUDADES DA TERRA” IS ALREADY IN RIBEIRA GRANDE

The GPRS (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) pieces that will be assembled to build the shell of the globe of the public art piece Saudades da Terra have already arrived in Ribeira Grande, São Miguel (Azores).

The complexity in the execution of the globe with 4 meters in diameter, where Portuguese limestones will later be glued, required the adoption of a technically advanced solution, made possible by a synthetic material produced by Plasterform, a company in Mississauga, Ontario, the world’s leading architectonic solutions, working for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and major Hollywood film producers.

The fact that the Azorean Emigrant Louis Borges being the CEO of Plasterform facilitated the contacts and his training as an architect helped to overcome some constraints.

The importation of this composite material and the very potent and specific glue that will be used to fix the limestone has raised some customs clearance problems for bureaucratic reasons.

Currently, the construction team of the public art piece Saudades da Terra is standardizing the calcareous limestone that will be used by the stone mason Carlos Meneses, a preparatory work in progress at the Marques Britas, in Rabo de Peixe, São Miguel Island (Azores).

Gil Torres, Arq. Louis Borges and his son and Luís Silva, at the reception of the helmet plates and glue for the public art piece “Saudades da Terra” at the port of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel (Azores)