Inauguration of the bamboo sculpture "La Fleur Mathématique" on 21 July 2023 in Pillnitz Palace Park

Science, art and historic preservation - under the direction of Prof. Daniel Lordick from Dresden University of Technology, a unique work of art called "La Fleur Mathématique" is currently being created: a bamboo sculpture around 4.50m high and weighing 750 kg, which will be erected in Pillnitz Palace Park on 21 July 2023. In the historic park, the sculpture is intended to blend harmoniously and respectfully into its surroundings and enrich them. Visitors will then be able to admire the sculpture in one of the hedge quarters until 31 October 2023.

"La Fleur Mathématique" is the name of a bamboo sculpture that is currently being created as part of the international AMBS ("Architectural Math for Bamboo Structures") summer school at the Dresden University of Technology under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Lordick and in cooperation with the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris-Malaquais ("ENSAPM"). It is to be inaugurated in Pillnitz Palace Park on Friday 21 July 2023 at 7 pm.

The Pillnitz Palace Park, whose origins date back to the 17th century, is part of the Dresden Electoral Residence and is one of Saxony's most outstanding monuments of garden culture. In principle, a historic park or garden that is a listed entity is a self-contained structure that is also coherent in terms of its content and which, as a rule, may not be extended by modern elements.

An exception was made for the "Fleur Mathématique" because of its material, its colour, its shape and its location in the hedge quarters. The sculpture is thematically related to the exhibition "Plant Fever" taking place in the Pillnitz Palace and Parks, a cooperation between the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Dresden State Art Collections and the State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony. The exhibition asks the question: "Can design help us reshape our relationship with the plant world and show us the potential of plants as true allies?"

Superficially, the sculpture is a physical mathematical model of the so-called Dini surface. The surface with constant negative curvature and characteristic surface curves is exemplary in terms of certain geometric properties that are useful for the economic production of efficient and lightweight load-bearing structures. Moreover, the sculpture bears a so-called Chebyshev mesh. Formally, the Dini surface resembles a flower. The material bamboo was chosen in particular for its sustainability and structural load-bearing capacity.

The sculpture reflects several interdisciplinary research fields of the Geometric Modeling and Visualisation (GMV) group at TUD, which is headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Lordick: "Basically, it is a feasibility study, a so-called demonstrator, for the application of mathematical principles in civil engineering and provides an important contribution to our research project "Formwork-free flow production of adaptive load-bearing structures based on variable frame elements" (ACDC), which is about the modularisation of doubly curved surfaces. In addition, the sculpture tests the use of bamboo as a rapidly renewable material for the production of a constructive form that is as exact as possible. Last but not least, the sculpture is also a statement at the interface of science and art, a cultural contribution with multi-layered allusions," Daniel Lordick explains the significance of the project.

Research group Geometric Modeling and Visualization https://tu-dresden.de/mn/math/geometrie/lordick

Pillnitz Palace and Park: https://www.schlosspillnitz.de/en/pillnitz-palace-and-park

Contact:
Prof. Daniel Lordick
TU Dresden, Faculty of Mathematics
Geometric Modeling and Visualisation (GMV) group
Tel.: +49 351 463-34193