Can
Basilica: One of the things you probably did not know
about St. Peter's Basilica is that a group of modelisti in Rome
recently constructed -- and then discarded -- a large scale model of the
church constructed almost entirely of Coke cans. The model was 1/5 scale
making it almost 100 meters long and more than 25 meters high. Ten million
cans were used, mostly Coke with other cans only used to add colorful details.
It went on display in December 1997 and demolition (and recycling) began
four months later. None of the cans were saved for collectors, but a special
issue can was struck and sold for charity. The same group, sponsored by
local charities, had in previous years built models of the Colosseum (in
Coccaglio, 1987), the Verona Arena (Verona, 1989), La Scala (Milan, 1989),
and St. Anthony (Padua, 1992). Each model was bigger than the previous
one, and cans are reportedly being stockpiled for an even bigger model,
yet to come, of some other unknown monument. For details of all of the
works, go to http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5305/beer9.html.