This statue, on the site of the 2008 Zaragoza Exposition in Spain, is of a person sitting on the floor with legs drawn up to the chest and, to emphasize anonymity, an absent face.
It is sculpted from hundreds of white painted, stainless-steel letters, and is open for the public to freely walk inside. (It was not always so.) Walking through it allows you to experience the amazing scale of the work: It is 12 meters high and 7.5 meters at its widest point (about 40 feet by 24 feet). The letters are all 635 mm in height (25 inches), but vary in thickness. This contributes to the different optical and shadow effects that occur during day and night.
“El Alma del Ebro,” meaning “the soul of the Ebro” takes its name from the Ebro River, which runs through Zaragoza, the capital of Spain’s Aragon region. The sculpture, by Jaume Plensa, speaks for itself, as everyone will take away something different.
