Life Electric, Como

Life Electric is a modern sculpture dedicated to physicist and inventor of the electric battery Alessandro Volta. The structure, completed in 2015, is the work of master architect and virtuoso accordion player Polish-American Daniel Libeskind. Life Electric was commissioned by the non-profit association "The Friends of Como."

Life Electric is located on the very end of the Breakwater pier (Diga Foranea), consolidated before the construction. The inauguration ceremony took place in October 2015. It was attended by Libeskind and his family, Luigi Martino, a nephew of Volta, and actress-model Nastassja Kinski. The dock is accessible from Lake Road (Mafalda of Savoy). The location lends greater visibility to the sculpture.

Life Electric is inspired by the electric tension between the two poles of a battery. It establishes a third pole between Volta Lighthouse (Faro Voltiano) and the Volta Temple museum (Templo Voltiano). The sculptor has created a geometric connection of the sky, lake, and mountains surrounding Lake Como. The interaction between these three elements produces an immense geometric power as a metaphor for Volta's electric power.

The structure is 49 feet tall from the base. It consists of two opposing sinusoidal curves. At the bottom is a containment wall around a pool 25 inches deep. The monument is made of calendered steel covered with steel panels. The illumination system using smoke machines creates light games at night.