The Miami Cat
“And now for something completely different …”
One certainly cannot say that our everyday work life is monotonous. In the structural and façade planning of buildings, we are confronted with constantly changing tasks that demand a certain amount of flexibility and creativity. However, professional excursions into the world of art beyond our classical fields of work are a welcome change. We have already had the opportunity to support artists in the realization of their works on several occasions, from Zurich to Basel, from New York to Toronto.
For the third time now, we were able to accompany the realization of a work by Olaf Breuning in collaboration with Metall & Holz Hoppler GmbH.
The most recent result of the cooperation is “The Cat”, a three-part sculpture on the grounds of Jackson Hospital in Miami that is more than just a work of art. Rehabilitation tools are integrated into the concrete figure, which are intended to provide the inmates of the New Rehab Building with helpful services during convalescence.
The sculpture, which weighs several tons, was manufactured entirely in Switzerland. Static calculations and reinforcement plans by Lüchinger+Meyer provided the technical basis for this. The relationship of the cat sculpture with the facial features inspired by Paul Klee to the “Animal” to be found in Blumenrain Zollikon is unmistakable. This object, realized in 2016, was also created in the same constellation.
(Photo: Olaf Breuning)
