https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falla_monument.....
Construction of the figuresAs the monuments can be very high (often more than 10 meters), a specific technique has been developed to build them. The step is to prepare a draft and perhaps a scale model which must be approved by the comisión fallera (a committee formed by a group of people who support or finance a falla in a neighborhood of Valencia) who hires the artist.
The structure (scaffold) is constructed of wood and then all materials (cardboard, wax, cloth, etc.) are used. Though years ago they could use wire, currently these materials are prohibited by the Junta Central Fallera (which regulates and coordinates this festivity). Ninots are traditionally constructed from molds, which are usually made of plaster, and are filled with pulp, which are painted after drying.
But today, for convenience and ease of use, new materials are used, such as porespan, resin or fiberglass. These new materials make the monuments lighter and the Falla artists can take risks to create bold and innovative forms.
Criticism of new materialsMany people criticize these new materials, referred to as white cork, since the black smoke they give off during the burning of the monument means the combustion can't be seen clearly. The pollution that these new materials cause has also been criticised in comparison with the supposedly lighter pollution from traditional materials. The Polytechnic University of Valencia carried out a study which seems to prove that, on the contrary, white cork is less polluting than the traditional materials. The student of Fallas Manuel Sanchis Ambrós carried out a study in which he assured that even though the combustion of cork gave off more heat, the combustion of wood and liquid materials used in making a wood structure is clearly more polluting.[1] A few years later (2013), the same university went back to the traditional method of falla making in view of its greater environmental sustainability.
