Glass Sponge

The exhibit is the skeleton of a Euplectella aspergillum, or watering can sponge, from the class of glass sponges, a very ancient group found only in the sea. Like all glass sponges, this specimen comes from the deep sea, from depths of several hundred to a thousand meters. The skeleton was formed by biomineralization: proteins cause silicate to precipitate from seawater and form stable structures. The resulting skeleton is break-resistant. It was already used as a model by architect Frei Otto (1925–2015) in the Stuttgart Collaborative Research Center 230. However, it has only been studied in greater scientific detail in recent years. The sophisticated combination of structures of varying strength provided inspiration for Frei Otto's lightweight construction, but also for materials research for medical purposes, such as bone prostheses.