Design and manufacturing of a sensor system to measure the melting of the Similaun glacier in real time
the Italian Limes project is a bridge, an attempt to connect two remote places with the aim of making the phenomenon of melting glaciers tangible and clear. The system of objects we worked on is a network of sensors in total 25 designed with the aim of monitoring the melting of the glacier live, via a GPS sensor system.
Their function was therefore to support the necessary technology, allow it to be powered by a solar panel and in fact be solid, resistant but at the same time light and isolated from the ground to allow the sensor to withstand the extreme conditions of a glacier at 3600m on the sea level, i.e. strong winds, low night temperatures and high day temperatures.
Italian Limes is an ongoing research project and an award-winning interactive installation that explores the most remote Alpine regions, where national frontiers drift with glaciers. Originally commissioned as part of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia, Italian Limes is an ongoing research project on the movable borders on the Alps. It focuses on the effects of climate change on shrinking glaciers and the consequent shifts of the watershed line that defines the national borders of Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France. In 2015 Italian Limes has been exhibited at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bozen.
In addition to the characteristics necessary to withstand the extreme conditions described above, these objects had to be light, easy to transport and take up little space during transport by helicopter and then during the handling phases on the glacier.
Invited to be part of the new exhibition Reset Modernity!, curated by the philosopher Bruno Latour in collaboration with AIME Team, the designers behind Italian Limes planned a new phase of the project, along with a new expedition on the glaciers of the Ötztal Alps, after the initial survey conducted in 2014. On April 2nd, 2016 the Italian Limes team successfully installed a series of autonomous devices on the melting ice sheet at the foot of Mt. Similaun, 3,300m above sea level. The new measurement units will help to track the change in the tridimensional geometry of the glacier throughout Spring and Summer 2016. The expedition was undertaken with representatives from the Comitato Glaciologico Italiano and the OGS—National Institute of Oceanography and of Experimental Geophysics, who provided scientific coordination for the project.
The sensors were made using a PVC case with various other plastic elements, all hermetically sealed using a system of gaskets and bolts
Further data was collected on the site during the expedition, and a geophysical survey of the glacier was performed. Along with providing the source of data for the installation at ZKM, Karlsruhe, that opened on April 16th, these measures will help to better understand climate change dynamics on the Alps. The sensors are open-source surveying tools that have been conceived specifically for the project. They have been designed under the scientific guidance of professor Valter Maggi (Università di Milano Bicocca), and professor Aldino Bondesan (Università di Padova). Prior to the installation, the devices were tested at -30°C inside the facilities of EuroCold laboratories at Università di Milano Bicocca. Italian Limes is made possible thanks to the network technologies and connectivity provided by TIM.
The main structure is a braced tripod assembled in the glacier with in a few steps made entirely of aluminum using tubulars and details made using water jet cutting, all made dry-fitting with pressure joints and some details using bolts.
The main frame therefore, once opened, became a light support, but stable at the same time, capable of resisting strong gusts of wind and supporting the necessary technology
Detail of the support point on the glacier, then integrated with a layer of insulating material underneath. the shape of this element guaranteed correct support on the surface of the glacier
Detail of the technology contained in the sensor
The installation present inside the ropes of the arsenal is composed of a series of elaborate graphics, a model of the glacier with video projection and an interactive part in dialogue with the sensor system present in the glacier, which allowed the production of a map with the geometry of the live glacier
Documentation of transport of all equipment by helicopter
Studio Folder
Alessandro Mason
Pietro Leoni
Livia Shamir
Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università di Padova
Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, EuroCold Lab, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Milano Bicocca
Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Parma
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Trieste
Reset Modernity!, curated by Bruno Latour at ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2016
South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (Jun–Sep 2015)
14th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, 2014
Special mention from the jury of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, Biennale di Venezia
Silver medal at the European Design Awards 2015 for the exhibition design
Delfino Sisto Legnani