The new National Freedom Museum has a special roof construction, supplied by Shaded Dome Technologies, with Orfa Visser supplying special spacers for the advanced construction. The Freedom Museum is located on the outskirts of Groesbeek in the area where Operation Market Garden and the Rhineland Offensive took place. With the Shaded Dome as a roof, the building has a distinct and recognizable shape that refers to the thousands of parachutes that filled the air back in 1944 during Operation Market Garden. In addition, the new building also evokes the memory of the museum’s former memorial dome, designed by architect Antoon Croonen. The new museum has opened in September 2019 when the activities have started at the commemoration of 75 years of Freedom and Operation Market Garden. Museum director Wiel Lenders: “With the Shaded Dome, the new Freedom Museum is an extremely efficient and energy-efficient building with minimal use of materials. In addition, operating costs are low and the materials used can be recycled. ”
Artist Ronald A. Westerhuis from Zwolle (NL) has engaged Orfa Visser to make a hemisphere for a beautiful sculpture. The material used is: Corten, a metal alloy, consisting of iron with the addition of copper, phosphorus, nickel, silicon and chromium. A special feature of this type of steel is the rust-brown appearance.
Michel Simons from SIVERO METAAL in Roggel explains: “During a teacher visit of an intern the conversation turned to steel waste. “What are you doing with that waste?” the question was, “Making works of art.” was my answer. We have often made artworks from residual material and I showed the teacher. This appealed to him and he suggested that the students of his school should get involved: “Then they can show their creativity.” No sooner said than done. I had have this idea (bulb) on the shelf for a long time, but it is very labor-intensive due to the large amount of sawing, so in order to realize it a mold had to be made. We ended up at OFRA VISSER in Dronten, where else ;-). We explained to Arjan (Sales department) what it was all about and within a week the hemisphere was ready and we could get started. The filling for the sphere with a diameter of 1000 mm had already been sawn by the students and they were immediately able to start working. It was a challenge to get the 2 hemispheres to fit together, but it worked out nicely. In the photo you see the result.
The three balls, each measuring one meter in diameter, are the design of the Belgian artist Johan Walraevens. After a long search, the artist chose the Dutch company Orfa Visser as the main contractor for this unique project. The three shiny petanque balls (jeu de boules balls) each have a diameter of 1,000 mm. They can be seen on the village square of the Belgian town of Zele. Johan Walraevens’s artwork was chosen from a variety of designs by a jury of leading art experts. Walraevens: “My artwork is intended as a social symbol. The French game of petanque brings fun and is a universal game, practiced by all layers of the population. It gives appearance to the village square. The balls are slightly spaced in the square. This allows them to be touched, but you can also walk between them. Thanks to the excellent work of Orfa Visser and her partners, everyone will immediately recognize the balls as petanque balls. “
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