She Changes, Porto

Porto and Matosinhos share this airborne landmark: She Changes, locally known as the anémona. Artist Janet Echelman designed it for both cities. It dates from 2005, and it is Echelman’s first permanent public artwork.

Notice the tilted circle held by cables and three steel supports. The steel ring measures forty-five metres across and weighs twenty tonnes; the supporting poles range from twenty-five to fifty metres tall. Inside hangs a net assembled from thirty-six separately woven sections, whose varied densities create its form.

That mesh is TENARA architectural fibre, a UV-resistant material made from PTFE. Echelman designed the sculpture around Porto’s and Matosinhos’s maritime and industrial character. The painted poles echo chimneys and lighthouses found around this coast, while the net recalls the fishing trade.

The work received recognition from Americans for the Arts in 2005 and an Advanced Textiles Association Award of Excellence in 2006. Its netting was removed for repairs in October 2020 and installed again with new material in April 2021.