Bordalo II Reveals One of His First Public Stone Sculptures: Técnico’s Rock Owl Becomes the Project’s 111th Object
We’ve just seen the news, and we couldn’t wait to share it. Bordalo II has revealed a young stone owl at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, created primarily from stone alongside recovered metal collected from waste produced by the institution’s laboratories.
Described by Técnico as one of the artist’s first works made in stone for public space, the sculpture marks an intriguing development in his evolving material practice.
Bordalo II’s young Rock owl outside the Técnico Innovation Center in Lisbon. Photo: Victor Carreira / Técnico.
Installed in February 2024 at the entrance to the Técnico Innovation Centre powered by Fidelidade, beside Lisbon’s Arco do Cego Garden, the sculpture was formally presented as the symbolic 111th object of 110 Histórias | 110 Objetos on 23 May 2024. The date also marked the release of a special podcast episode and the opening of an exhibition bringing together objects featured throughout the project.
Created in 2021 to commemorate Técnico’s 110th anniversary, 110 Histórias | 110 Objetos, translated as 110 Stories | 110 Objects, explored the institution’s history through objects connected to science, engineering, education, music, art and sport. The original podcast series concluded with its 110th episode in September 2023, while Bordalo II’s owl extends the project beyond its original framework, giving physical form to the countless stories that remained untold.
Big Trash Animals: From Discarded Materials to Stone
Bordalo II has built an international reputation through the continuing evolution of his Big Trash Animals, transforming discarded plastic, metal, rubber and industrial materials into monumental animal sculptures. His sharks, whales, birds and other creatures are frequently assembled from the same kinds of waste that threaten their habitats, giving environmental damage an immediate and highly visible sculptural language.
Técnico’s Rock owl preserves this central concern with material reuse while introducing a markedly different physical vocabulary. The work is composed primarily of stone, including fragments associated with construction rubble and material left unused during extraction and building processes, together with metal recovered from waste produced by Técnico’s laboratories.
Bordalo II cuts and assembles the stone pieces like a puzzle, using variations in colour, texture, light and shadow to construct the owl’s rounded body and expressive character. The result carries a sense of weight, permanence and craftsmanship that feels distinct from the brightly painted plastics, tyres and vehicle parts associated with many of his Big Trash Animals.
Stone also establishes a particularly fitting connection with Técnico’s disciplines of engineering, architecture, construction and materials science. The sculpture draws attention to the many possible lives held within raw materials, including those dismissed as rubble, scrap or industrial waste.
Why the Bordalo II Rock Owl Represents Youth and Wisdom
The choice of an owl feels especially appropriate for an institution celebrating more than a century of teaching, research and discovery. Long associated with wisdom and knowledge, the owl becomes a symbol of education, curiosity and intellectual growth.
Bordalo II has described the character more specifically as a young owl at the beginning of its life, eager to learn and still capable of absorbing the world around it. Rather than presenting wisdom as something already complete, the sculpture connects it with youth, possibility and the continuous process of discovery.
The character is deliberately informal, appearing furry, rounded and slightly dishevelled. It stands near a social area where students meet, talk and spend time together, reflecting the artist’s belief that education involves curiosity, culture, shared experience and life beyond formal rules.
For Técnico, the owl also represents the many objects and institutional histories that could not be included within the original 110 podcast episodes. Where each documented object tells a particular story, Bordalo II’s sculpture gathers together everything that remained outside the selection, from overlooked materials and unfinished experiments to failures, discoveries and memories that continue to shape the institution.
Standing at the entrance to the Innovation Centre, the young owl now acts as an invitation to encounter Técnico’s students, researchers and ideas.
Whether stone becomes a recurring material within Bordalo II’s public practice remains to be seen. For now, Técnico’s stone owl represents a compelling expansion of his sculptural language, bringing waste, engineering, education and institutional memory together within one quietly watchful animal.
Bordalo II’s young Rock owl outside the Técnico Innovation Center in Lisbon. Photo: Técnico.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on whether Bordalo II returns to stone again, but for now, Rock Owl stands as one of the more stronger pieces in his growing body of work.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bordalo II’s Rock Owl
It is a public sculpture depicting a young owl, created primarily from stone together with metal recovered from waste produced by Instituto Superior Técnico’s laboratories. The sculpture became the extra, 111th object associated with the institution’s 110 Histórias | 110 Objetos project.
The sculpture stands at the entrance to the Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade, beside the Arco do Cego Garden in Lisbon, Portugal.
Instituto Superior Técnico describes it as one of Bordalo II’s first works made in stone and exhibited in public space. It should therefore be described as one of his earliest public stone sculptures, rather than definitively his first.
May 23rd, 2024, the same day Técnico opened its 110 Histórias | 110 Objetosexhibition and launched a companion book of the same name.
The young owl represents wisdom, education, curiosity and the capacity to learn. It was also conceived to represent the many objects and stories from Técnico’s history that could not be included within the original 110 podcast episodes.
The sculpture is made primarily from stone, together with recovered metal collected from waste produced by Técnico’s laboratories. Bordalo II has explained that the stone elements include material regarded as rubble or as waste from construction and extraction processes.
The sculpture has stood outside the Técnico Innovation Center since February 2024. It was formally presented as the project’s 111th object on 23 May 2024, when Técnico released a special podcast episode dedicated to the work.
110 Histórias | 110 Objetos is a podcast and institutional-history project created to commemorate Técnico’s 110th anniversary in 2021. Its 110 episodes explored the institution’s past, present and future through objects associated with science, engineering, education, culture and campus life. The stone owl became its symbolic 111th object in May 2024.
The accompanying exhibition opened at the Técnico Innovation Centre on 23 May 2024 and will remain on view until the end of the year. A related publication brings together the stories behind the objects documented throughout the project.