ES Frigo for Maxxi Museum: Ice at the Museum?

How we Created an Installation Spanning Art and Technology

Imagine entering a very cold room, with the ceiling and walls covered by a thick layer of ice. Not artificially reconstructed, but real ice, constantly forming and maintaining itself in the heart of one of Italy’s most important museums.

This is exactly the project that ES Frigo has completed in collaboration with the MAXXI Museum in Rome, as part of the exhibition ‘Sensazioni in Ambiente’ (Sensations in Environment). An ambitious challenge, only made possible by unique and original solutions.

The MAXXI challenge

When the MAXXI Museum contacted ES Frigo, the briefing was as fascinating as it was complex: create an environment where ice would form on the ceiling and part of the walls of a 6 by 4-metre room. The work was to remain on display for six months, giving visitors the impression of being inside a real chamber made of ice.

But the project was fraught with technical challenges: it was set in an uninsulated, large, open space with plasterboard walls, with visitors coming in and out, bringing body heat and disturbing the delicate thermal balance. As if that were not enough, the artist’s need was to have all the refrigeration equipment directly inside the work itself, to emphasise the noise of the machinery. A true test of endurance.

Complex problems, innovative solutions

We faced a number of technical obstacles that would have discouraged most people. How to maintain ice and prevent it from melting on surfaces not designed to withstand the cold? How to counteract the heat generated by the visitors and even by the very refrigeration machinery we needed? The answer was to find a unique solution, a dual condensing system.

The double condensing unit: how to maintain ice in an open environment

The key to success was the installation of a double condensing unit, a key element in meeting all requirements. ES Frigo installed an internal condensing unit, seamlessly integrated into the artwork’s environment according to the aesthetic requirements of the artist, and an external condensing unit, designed to control the actual cooling. While the internal condensing unit helped to create the desired auditory effect, the external condensing unit ensured that the room temperature remained constantly below zero.

In this way, it was possible to create a microclimate that would allow ice to form and remain stable, without damaging the plasterboard structure and keeping the room safe for the thousands of visitors who immersed themselves in the work for months.

A chilling installation: the frozen room that caused a sensation

The result was extraordinary: a completely frozen room, capable of arousing awe and wonder among MAXXI’s visitors. The ice held out for six months without melting. But the success of the project was not only technical: the greatest satisfaction was to meet precisely and thoroughly all of the artist’s needs, without compromise, adapting the technology to a work that needed an extremely delicate aesthetic touch.

ES Frigo: from the cold chain to contemporary art

This story perfectly represents the spirit of ES Frigo: the ability to solve complex problems, to think outside the box and to adapt to the most unusual demands, providing innovative solutions.

This installation is tangible proof of how even the refrigeration sector can become fertile ground for art and creativity, and how we are able to bring innovation and reliability wherever there is a need to keep cool, even when that need is… artistic.

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How to ensure access to drinking water for everyone when there is no water? The Dew Water Project

A challenge with an important objective

Let’s go back for a moment to the COVID period, a difficult time for everyone, when we learnt how important hygiene and disinfection are.

However, not everyone had the same tools at their disposal to protect themselves. In Cambodia, for example, entire communities did not have access to disinfectants, detergents or adequate amounts of drinking water and electricity.

It was in this context that the Lions Club contacted us with an important goal: to find a way to purify water and improve the health and sanitation conditions of a village.

Hence the ‘Acqua di Rugiada’ (Dew Water) project was born.

The difficulties of the project 

The aim of the project was noble, but there was no shortage of difficulties. First of all, the area where the system was to be installed lacked an easily accessible source of drinking water, which meant that we had to find a way to, literally, create water out of thin air. What is more, the whole system had to operate without a stable energy source, such as an electricity connection.

As if that were not challenging enough, the system also had to be fully mobile. It had to be easily transported to the site and assembled in advance.

Acqua di Rugiada was a real opportunity for us to put our skills to use.

What have we achieved? 

Thanks to a collaboration with a university professor we often work with, we discovered a tool capable of creating a wholly natural disinfectant, called anolyte, using just water and salt.

Anolyte is indeed at the heart of the Acqua di Rugiada project – a powerful disinfectant that can be used in multiple applications. This compound not only potabilises water, making it safe for human consumption, but is also extremely versatile: it can disinfect food, surfaces and rooms, ensuring a high level of hygiene even in complex contexts.

Just think of emergency situations such as natural disasters, or isolated areas where drinking water is scarce and sanitation is limited. Acqua di Rugiada meets precisely these needs, providing safe water and ensuring a level of hygiene that is essential for people’s health.

Water from the atmosphere and solar power 

The real innovation of the project lies in the station’s ability to adapt to extreme environments. Imagine being in an area with no direct access to water and no electricity grid: Acqua di Rugiada is designed to deal exactly with this kind of scenario.

Thanks to 600 kWp photovoltaic panels, the station is self-sufficient, producing the energy required to generate the anolyte and purify water to make it drinkable.

But that’s not all: in the absence of available water, the station is able to produce water by extracting it directly from the atmosphere. ES Frigo developed a refrigeration unit that acts as a dehumidifier, producing water by condensing it directly from the moisture in the air.

A technology that seems almost magical, creating water virtually out of thin air, but which today is a real possibility to ensure access to drinking water even under the most difficult conditions.

A future of innovative solutions

Participating in the Acqua di Rugiada project was an opportunity for us at ES Frigo to make a tangible contribution to an initiative that can make a difference in emergency situations and for vulnerable communities. The idea of being able to guarantee clean water and hygiene everywhere, even under the most difficult conditions, is something that has fascinated us from the very beginning.

We are proud to have been chosen for this initiative thanks to our experience and ability to adapt. Together with all those who contributed, we were able to develop a solution that addresses unprecedented environmental and logistical challenges.

Acqua di Rugiada, unfortunately, could not reach the place for which it was intended because of the difficulties related to the pandemic. For this reason, the Lions Group chose to donate it to the Civil Defence Association of Alessandria. Today, thanks to this choice, it has become a special destination for many schoolchildren, who discover here how even the most difficult challenges can be tackled when there is something really important at stake.

We won this challenge through collaboration and commitment, and we are proud to have been part of it. If there is one thing that Acqua di Rugiada has taught us, it is that the best solutions are those that look ahead.

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