During the week of the 23th to 30th of May 2018 the sampling work on Chillida’s sculpture “Elogio del horizonte”, selected as case study in Gijón (Asturias, Spain), was carried out by Estudio Guadiana team (partner of Innovaconcrete project). Representative concrete samples have been taken from the monument, which was chosen for being one of the most representative concrete-based monuments of the 20th Century Cultural Heritage and one of the most famous and visited sculptures of the well-known artist Eduardo Chillida.

The sampling activities were led by the architect Lorenzo Fernández-Ordóñez, Director of Estudio Guadiana and also professor at the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM). The UEM has contributed to the sampling as a technological partner providing several instrumental for the testing and valuable technical help.

At the “Elogio del horizonte” a 16 meter high crane and scaffolding were installed to allow access to the upper part of this sculpture for the InnovaConcrete team. Representative samples were taken from different areas by taking into account the degradation processes and the concrete properties. There were also extracted a couple of core samples. Afterwards, it was analyzed at the Instituto Torroja (CSIC) the composition and the condition of the concrete of the sculpture. In addition, apart from sampling, several tests were developed such as: thermographic test, lasser scanner, pachometer, sclerometer, finite element method study of the structure, phenolphthalein test, velocity test, among others.  In the tests carried “in situ” they were lucky of having the collaboration of Fernando López Gayarre, and the Universidad de Oviedo concrete lab team.

Finally, its location in the Cerro de Santa Catalina facing the sea, also contributed to analyze different conservation problems, providing exceptional examples for the InnovaConcrete project