Delight.

THIS REMARKABLE COMPOSITE SUPERSCULPTURE CELEBRATES THE TACTILE AND VISUAL PROPERTIES OF OVER 200 DIFFERENT SORTS OF MATERIALS, FROM LACE TO SLATE.

To celebrate the completion of a series of art installations at London's Science Museum, sculptor Thomas Heatherwick was asked to create an object that incorporated the world's largest collection of materials. The result is an intriguing, tactile structure made up of 213 different materials, from Astroturf to Segovia lace. Heatherwick specializes in organically-inspired, large scale works; his Autumn Intrusion, for instance, festooned Harvey Nichols department store with a scrum of writhing, plywood tentacles (AR January 1998).

The enormous Materials House is intended to stimulate curiosity about the nature of organic and manmade substances. Each component material is described in a series of swatches which form a fascinating adjacent display. Donated by various manufacturers and suppliers, the range of stuff is truly mindboggling. It encompasses various kinds of metals - steel, anodized aluminium, even a very thin layer of silver; timbers - including exotic woods, plywood and flake board; slate, Chinese quartz tiles, fake fur, polycarbonate, felt, coir, rubber, leather, recycled PVC wellingtons and even postage stamps. Sadly, Heatherwick's plans to incorporate a layer of hardened camel dung were unrealized.

Cutting paths and profiles were determined using computer programs. Individual layers were shaped using various cutting techniques, from lasers and water to hand trimming, and then fixed in place with hundreds of screws, bolts and litres of contact adhesive. The sculpture took three years to complete. Combining senuousness with a trainspotter's obsessive attention to detail, Heatherwick's voluptuous curves and kaleidoscopic colours are feast for the eye, hand and imagination.