Second Woodvetia statue: Bertrand Piccard unveils his grandfather
As part of the #Woodvetia campaign for Swiss wood, Rod unveiled the second statue. It depicts Auguste Piccard, the grandfather of Bernhard Piccard.
In 1931, the Basel-born engineer and physicist was the first person to successfully reach the stratosphere in a gas balloon. In 1932, he repeated the journey and climbed even higher: to 16,940 meters (geometric measurement). However, Auguste Piccard did not seek out these extremes out of a thirst for adventure, but purely out of an interest in research. For example, his measurements of cosmic radiation in the stratosphere enabled him to prove the theorems of his friend Albert Einstein.
Around twenty years later - he was now one of the most famous physicists of his time - Auguste Piccard achieved another record in the opposite direction: off the coast of Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In 1953, Piccard and his son Jacques were the first to dive to a depth of 3,150 meters. Here, too, the focus was on research.
The #Woodvetia figure of Auguste Piccard is carved from a wood that suits him very well due to its properties: Alder is often used in model making due to its lightness and often in hydraulic engineering thanks to its resistance to moisture. For example, the houses of the pile dwellers were built on alder trunks. As Auguste Piccard was born in Basel, an alder from Allschwil (BL) was used. The tree is 70 years old and was already standing in the forest during Piccard's lifetime.
The #Woodvetia campaign aims to strengthen the demand for Swiss wood (Werbewoche.ch reported). The awareness-raising campaign launched by the forestry and timber industry and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) focuses on life-size figures of important Swiss personalities. These are each made from a type of wood that comes from the region of origin of the person depicted. The Zurich artist Inigo Gheyselinck creates the statues with the involvement of various partners from the forestry and timber industry. Foresters, sawyers and wood turners are among those involved in the artistic process. The figures were selected by a jury consisting of representatives from the forestry and timber industry and the FOEN.
