Volcano Sculpture

The recent eruptions of the Icelandic volcano Eyafjallajokull have resulted in some stunning imagery of this spectacular phenomenon, in both video and still photography.






For a nature photographer a visit to the site would be an ultimate experience - but often the most stunning artistic creations are produced in the most extreme and dangerous natural situations.






In Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, the Kilauea volcano which has been flowing to the sea since 1983 has attracted people to attempt sculptures with the molten lava. Years ago I recall seeing video of a sculptor wearing asbestos gloves while shaping the liquid rock into heads reminiscent of Easter Island figures, but haven't been able to find a link. Underwater lava sculptor, Bud Turpin, has attempted shaping active lava flows on numerous dives on active lava flow off the Big island.

One of my favourite artists, environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, collaborates with nature to make his creations. Among his works are references to the powerful beauty of natural phenomena such as lava pools.

Barn Owl Box Architecture

Since the Easter long weekend, I have been watching live video footage from inside a barn owl nest box in San Marcos, California, & am completely hooked on this 'reality tv' show!

This family of barn owls includes the female Molly, the male McGee, and four owlets, who are becoming more famous every day via interviews on TV & with schools across the US.

The owl box is located on the one-acre property of Carlos & Donna Royal. There is a wealth of extremely fascinating information on their website about the barn owls.

Of particular interest to me is the design of the owl box installed for the Royals by Tom Stephan.

When I first saw the footage from inside the owl box, the video was zoomed in appearing to show a simple box construction. As the owlets have grown, the daytime camera has been zoomed out, showing the sloped (shed) roofs, at the sides - but also showing that the centre of the roof is raised up. An outside video cam now shows the entire box at night as well.

The style is similar to a traditional barn style, often used for horse barns, called a Monitor Style Barn.

In the case of barns, the elevated roof in the centre allows for additional storage, natural light & ventilation.

In the case of the owl box, you can see on the video that there is a continuous gap between the sloped roofs & the walls at the lower level, and also presumably at the higher (monitor) level. This design would allow for ventilation of the box without the operable openings that a regular barn might have.

In the on-line comments that accompany the live video, there is frequent discussion about the possibility of overheating inside the box. Since the location is California, the daytime temperatures have been reaching 24C and will get even warmer before the owlets fledge & leave the box toward the end of May.

Fortunately, the clever design of the box will allow for a cooling flow-through of air: since heat rises, air entering from the entry opening of the box (on the front right hand side) will flow through the box, up & out through the gaps below the roof.

The monitor style roof in architecture has been used for industrial, residential & public buildings. In warm countries such as Singapore and Australia this style provides natural ventilation & cooling without any mechanical aids.