First place at an International Snow Sculpting Event goes to Students from the Nottingham Trent University
Four students from the School of Art and Design and School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University represented Great Britain at the International University Snow Sculpture Competition in Harbin, China. This was the largest competition of its kind in the world, with 58 teams from 16 countries.
The students crafted a giant globe from snow representing the negative impact society has on the environment. The students braved sub-zero temperatures, which sometimes reached -25oC during the day and -35oC at night, to create Discarded Necessity; a 3m x 3m x 3.5m 3D sculpture, which earned them a first place award.
The team were also the only overseas university to compete in the more advanced Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition days before, which was open to professional artists and sculptors. Despite being snow sculpture novices before the event, they were presented with a Creative Award for their piece Car Crash.
Daizhong Su, professor of Design Engineering at Nottingham Trent University, commented: “It was a big challenge for our team to participate in the two competitions in such cold weather without a day’s break, but they worked very hard and did really well. The competitions provided a great opportunity for our students to gain experience in an international environment and to learn more about becoming global citizens. The team are grateful for support received from the School of Art and Design and School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.
“Our partner university in China, Harbin Engineering University, also provided valuable support to our team, including facilities, accommodation, and, in particular, the training given to our team, which greatly enhanced our capacity.”