Sfera con Sfera, literally “Sphere within Sphere”, is one of the most recognisable pieces of sculpture on campus. Better known locally as the “Golden Ball” or “Spinny Globe Thing”, one would have difficulty finding a College student who hasn’t had a go at spinning the structure around.

The work is one of a series of bronze spheres created by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. These spheres are located all over the world: the Vatican Museums in Rome, the UN headquarters in New York and the University California, Berkeley. While varying in their size and design, the Vatican piece most closely resembles Trinity’s, displaying similarities in its details despite being twice the size. Sfera con Sfera was presented to the college by Mr. Pomodoro as a gift in 1982 and has sat outside of Berkeley library ever since, even during extensive restorations in 2008.

The pieces meaning is debated; some people think it represents the world breaking from a Ptolemaic view of the heavens, while others argue it depicts an earth that contains a celestial realm at its centre. Its rather ambiguous meaning does mean that it can fit in with any surrounding, which is evident from the range of political, religious and educational backdrops it sits against across the globe.

The beauty of this piece lies in the intricacy of the inner layers of the sphere. The viewer is given a glimpse into its inner workings through the cracks in the bronze and invited to interact with it – to peer inside. The fact that it spins around – with a bit of effort from the viewer – adds to this potential for interaction.