It takes just one wrong move, and artist Raffaele Salvoldi’s sculptures come crashing down. His large-scale, ephemeral architecture is hand-built, block by identical wooden block. Salvoldi places the rectangular pieces like you might build a Jenga tower; each one is simply stacked on the other without glue or other supports. Thus, the tens of thousands of blocks are individually vulnerable to spilling over and taking other parts of the building with them. The outcome is awe-inspiring and thrilling.
Salvoldi’s sculptures feature imaginary cities of interconnecting towers with domed roofs and long spires. The structures reach up to 46 feet tall. They are built without prior planning and take several days to construct—the result of Salvoldi’s intuition and a dialogue between his hands, the material, and the environment. During this time, viewers can observe him at work, placing the pieces with care and an attentiveness to what the materials are telling him. And just as viewers can see the form taking shape, they can also watch it fall. This is not a sad event, however. It’s a ritual that allows all involved—viewers and artist—to engage in a shared wondrous, fleeting moment.
If the artistic process seems high-stakes and full of tension, that is the point. Salvoldi’s practice is designed to reflect life itself.
“What we carry with us are not the objects we possess, but the gestures we perform,” he explains in a statement. “My ephemeral architectures are an invitation to slow down, observe, breathe: to remember that beauty—whether a building, a landscape, or a human bond—is always fragile, always temporary. I try to protect it by building, and celebrate it by letting it fall. In this cycle I find the meaning of my work: transforming impermanence into possibility, and collapse into an act of rebirth.”
Check out a selection of the artist’s amazing sculptures. To see what he is building next, follow Raffaele Salvoldi on Instagram.
Artist Raffaele Salvoldi creates large-scale architectural sculptures brick by wooden brick.
Towering up to 46 feet tall, we’re meant to watch them being built…
…and eventually come falling down.
Watch Salvodi construct his buildings from the ground up.
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Here, viewers are helping to disassemble his work.
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