cristina iglesias sculpts polished stainless steel vegetation room in inhotim

the town of inhotim is a pocket of pristinely-preserved lush vegetation surrounded by ferrous-tinted landscapes of the surrounding mines in belo horizonte, brasil. the contrast created by the two natural areas and the preservation of memory became intrinsic catalysts for spanish sculptor cristina iglesias when designing the ‘vegetation room inhotim.’  the first of this scale, a regular 9 m2 square footprint is clad in polished stainless steel panels whose mirrored surfaces reflect the surrounding forest so that from a distance the construct literally disappears. four doors, one on each side, open a pathway to organically shaped interior spaces that at some points become too narrow for physical passage but allow your sight line to peak curiosity. a perceptively artificial green plant motif cast in bronze and polyester resin and glass fiber tiles over the walls and becomes a mere texture whose repetition goes almost unnoticed.  to enter the other various nooks one must venture back out to the real vegetation and wander around the orthogonal structure until discovering the other portals, the most hidden of which leads to a larger round space with a metal-grate over a pit occupied by a whirlpool of water.

a video walk-through of the project has been debuted in the ‘metonimia’ exhibition at the museo nacional centro de arte reina sofia in madrid, running from february 6th to may 13th, which also displays several of her other sculptures as well.

‘vegetation room inhotim’ by cristina iglesias, belo horizonte, brasil
all images courtesy of cristina iglesias

side entrance

the structure almost completely disappears due to the reflective surface material

reflected landscape

‘vegetation room inhotim’ by cristina iglesias, belo horizonte, brasil

‘vegetation room inhotim’ by cristina iglesias, belo horizonte, brasil

one of the entrances into the interior labyrinth

interior walkway with a fake vegetative plant motif tiled across the walls

plan sketch 

illustration

model