An exciting new piece of artwork by artist Lubna Chowdhary showcases the versatility and aesthetic potential of exposed heating and ventilation pipes as a design feature, in an impressive 6.5m by 5.5m sculpture made from ROCKWOOL® RockLap H&V Pipe Sections.
The ‘Erratics’ exhibition was commissioned by the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) and features a sculpture made possible by a ROCKWOOL donation of 320 meters of its RockLap H&V Pipe Sections, sized with a 140mm inner diameter and wall thickness of 25mm.
Heating and ventilation pipes
The artist, Lubna, has previously created many commissioned architectural works and the ROCKWOOL piece, ‘Modular 4’, continues the tradition of her site-specific work, playing with scale, repetition, modularity, and geometry to occupy the expansive gallery space at MIMA.
RockLap H&V Pipe Sections are designed to maintain the optimum temperature of pipe services
The ROCKWOOL insulation used for the sculpture consists of pre-formed cylindrical sections of stone wool with a layer of factory-applied foil on the outer surface.
Traditionally used for heating and ventilation pipes in a range of settings, RockLap H&V Pipe Sections are designed to maintain the optimum temperature of pipe services, thereby reducing energy consumption.
Unconventional sculptural material
Speaking about her repurposing of ROCKWOOL insulation for Modular 4 and treating it as an unconventional sculptural material, Lubna Chowdhary said “My work continuously investigates the relationship between the industrial and hand-crafted, and the industrial precision and modular system of ROCKWOOL was something I could work directly and immediately with. It was a material that could be easily formed and constructed into more complex shapes with minimal tools and processes.”
Commenting on the use of ROCKWOOL RockLap H&V Pipe Sections, Will Wigfield, the HVAC & Fire Product Manager at ROCKWOOL, said “Our HVAC products are often deliberately left exposed in modern commercial, retail, and leisure projects to provide an attractive and interesting focal feature that blurs the line between function and aesthetics. It is fascinating to see how Lubna has taken this one step further and transformed RockLap into such a stunning and imposing piece of art. ROCKWOOL was pleased to be able to donate these materials and see them transformed into something so special.”