visit studio olafur eliasson

A visit with Olafur Eliasson's art and architecture workshop, Studio Other Spaces

• Mass Timber
• Trading Notes
• Outdoor Spaces
• Reuse + Renewal
• Architecture
• Development
• Preservation
• Sustainability
• Transportation
• International

Harrison Fjord

The Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s multi-story studio is located in an old 19 th -century brewery in Berlin ’s Prenzlauer Berg district. The combination artist’s studio, materials research laboratory, and fabrication workshop is outfitted with elegant Hans Wegner furniture, displays of Eliasson projects, artwork prototypes, and a glass-walled kitchen for employees’ daily lunches. Inside this calm, but busy, workshop there is now an architecture office.

Directed by Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann, Studio Other Spaces is a natural outgrowth of the large-scale public sculptures and installations that Studio Olafur Eliasson has been creating since the mid-1990s. Eliasson has long had an interest in architecture, running an art school called the Institute for Spatial Experiments and working for many years with Einar Thorsteinn, an architect and geometry expert who was a follower of Buckminster Fuller. Studio Olafur Eliasson was also part of the James Corner–Diller and Scofidio + Renfro design team for New York’s High Line park . For several years the art studio has had major clients commissioning projects that were really exterior curtain walls, like the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall, designed with Copenhagen-based firm Henning Larsen (and winner of the 2013 Mies van der Rohe Award), which has a facade of quartz-like hexagonal sections.

Eliasson writes that he believes the “culture sector in our society is more likely to create change than the public sector, the politicians, or the private sector.” This new architecture office is perhaps a vehicle to combine his dramatic public art with a pragmatic social program. This desire by designers and artists to also be architects has a long lineage going back to the Renaissance through the Vienna Secession, and today we see it with artists like James Wines of SITE or industrial designers like Pentagram and Thomas Heatherwick. Given all the requirements of building, it is still not common for an architect to be grounded in art, but with the capabilities of today’s digital practice and the range of large-scale public art, we may start to see more of these professional distinctions erode. Studio Other Spaces’ recent projects and its facility with spatial design shown here is not just branding, but sophisticated architecture.

Head of design in Studio Olafur Eliasson, Behmann is an educated and licensed architect and has been consulting on the studio’s architectural projects since 2001, though the studio only recently began to design major monuments all over the world. The architecture office currently has eight architects on staff, all with different backgrounds. Eliasson said he admires architects because “they build buildings for people who are not interested in buildings—they just work in them, or they just sleep in them, or they just eat in them.” This a very good start for practicing architecture.

Ilulissat Icefjord Park Competition

The park design uses melting ice to shape space based on a unique design strategy where ice is at once the formwork of a concrete structure and the focal point of the resulting space. Icebergs were harvested directly from the nearby ice fjord to create an exhibition building, called the Ice Void, which harbors the memory of the ice that was used to shape it in its walls. Linked to the Ice Void outdoors by a 360-degree path, the Sun Cone building defines the park. The light glass structure of the Sun Cone positions the visitor center directly in the landscape and offers guests a spectacular panoramic view of the surroundings and the Arctic sun. The park helps make the overwhelming experience of visiting the ice fjord comprehensible—providing visitors with a scale for contemplating and relating to the awe-inspiring ice fjord.

Fjordenhus Vejle, Denmark

The new headquarters of Kirk Kapital rises directly from the harbor of the city of Vejle, Denmark. Accessible by footbridge, the 75-foot-tall building is formed by four intersecting cylinders with brick facades that have rounded negative spaces, creating complex curved forms and arched windows. The brickwork incorporates fifteen different tones of unglazed brick, making a visually rich surface; blue and green glazed bricks are integrated into the carved-out sections to produce color fades that enhance the sense of depth. The ground floor is open to the public and includes two water spaces that are visible from viewing platforms.

Facades of Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre Reykjavik, Iceland

Olafur Eliasson and his studio designed the show-stopping facade of the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre in collaboration with Henning Larsen Architects. Reminiscent of the crystalline basalt columns commonly found in Iceland, the facade was built from a modular, space-filling structure called the quasi-brick. The quasi-brick is a twelve-sided polyhedron consisting of rhomboidal and hexagonal faces. When stacked, the bricks leave no gaps between them, so they can be used to build walls and structural elements. The combination of regularity and irregularity in the modules lends the facade a chaotic, unpredictable quality that could not be achieved through stacking cubes. The modules incorporate panes of color-effect filter glass, which appear to be different colors according to how the light hits them; the building shimmers, reacting to the weather, time of day or year, and the position and movements of viewers.

Your rainbow panorama Aarhus, Denmark

In 2007 Studio Olafur Eliasson won a competition to transform the rooftop of Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark . It offers visitors sweeping views of the city, the sky, and the distant horizon. The elevated 360-degree walkway is 492 feet in diameter and glazed with rainbow-colored glass. Visible from afar, the work divides Aarhus into various color zones and acts as a beacon for people moving about the city—an effect that is heightened at night when lights running the circumference of the walkway illuminate it from within.

Ester Bruzkus Architekten inserts a box in a box for a Berlin apartment

Berlin’s Flussbad campus begins its phased opening with Reethaus by Austrian architect Monika Gogl

Ester Bruzkus Architekten unites acoustical efficiency and a calm interior for Relaxound’s office

Exhibition Guide

Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life

Find out more about our exhibition at Tate Modern

Introduction

This exhibition brings together over 40 works of art made between 1990 and today by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson . Born in 1967, Eliasson has created a broad body of work that includes installations, sculptures, photography and paintings. The materials he uses range from moss, glacial melt-water and fog, to light and reflective metals. Eliasson’s art comes from three particularly important interests. These are: his concern with nature, honed through his time spent in Iceland; his research into geometry; and his ongoing investigations into how we perceive, feel about and shape the world around us.

Eliasson puts experience at the centre of his art. He hopes that as you encounter it, you become more aware of your senses. You add meaning to the works as you bring your associations and memories to these experiences. You might also become more aware of the people around you with whom you form a temporary community. For Eliasson, this heightened awareness of yourself and other people creates a new sense of responsibility. Ultimately, he believes that art can have a strong impact on the world outside the museum.

Eliasson runs a studio in Berlin with technicians, architects, archivists, art historians, designers, filmmakers, cooks, and administrators. Exhibitions and commissions take place all over the world. Eliasson and his studio team collaborate with architects, policymakers, chefs, activists, musicians and choreographers. Developing from his interest in light and in the environment, Eliasson has launched projects addressing sustainable energy and the climate emergency. In the last part of this exhibition, you can discover how these projects emerge from the research that takes place in the studio. Downstairs in Tate’s Terrace Bar, you can also sample the organic vegetarian dishes developed in collaboration with the chefs at Eliasson’s studio. There is no fixed route through the exhibition. The works can be experienced in any order, but the map will help you navigate. More information on the works in the exhibition is on www.olafureliasson.net

Please note, BIG BANG FOUNTAIN includes flashing lights.

#OlafurEliasson

This case contains around 450 models, prototypes and geometric studies of various sizes. Together, they form a record of Olafur Eliasson’s work with his studio team and with Icelandic artist, mathematician and architect Einar Thorsteinn (1942–2015).

Between 1996 and 2014 Thorsteinn and Eliasson collaborated on several projects and researched the geometric forms, symmetries and ratios that structure a number of Eliasson’s sculptures and pavilions. One of the modular shapes you see here, for example, is a study for Your spiral view 2002 which is installed in this exhibition.

These models are made from different materials including copper wire, cardboard, paper photocopies, Lego, wood, foam and rubber balls. For many years, they served as a reference ‘library’ for Studio Olafur Eliasson. Now, Model room is held at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, but the studio, and particularly its design and geometry teams, continues to create models and prototypes as part of its research.

Early works

This room brings together many of Eliasson’s earliest works and reveals interests that continue to motivate his art today.

Window projection 1990, Wannabe 1991 and I grew up in solitude and silence 1991 were made while Eliasson was still at art school. They use different kinds of light to alter the experience of space and architecture. As with many of Eliasson’s works of this time, the mechanism is very simple and never concealed from view.

Eliasson has long been interested in nature and the weather. From the start, he connected his experiences of the Icelandic landscape to the practice of making sculpture. Some works like Wavemachines 1995 replicate natural phenomena. Other works such as Regenfenster (Rain window) 1999 recreate the effects of weather conditions. In Moss wall 1994, created from Scandinavian reindeer lichen, Eliasson adds an unexpected material from outdoors to the controlled indoor space of the museum. The aroma and texture of the work affect the senses too.

These interests in illumination, nature and perception also led to early installations, such as Beauty 1993 and No nights in summer, no days in winter 1994 that you can find in the two spaces beyond this room.

Kaleidoscopes

Eliasson has been making kaleidoscopes since the mid-1990s. In this room, an older work, Your spiral view 2002 and a recent work Your planetary window 2019 are brought together.

For the artist, the kaleidoscope offers more than just a playful visual experience. Multiple reflections fracture and reconfigure what you see. You are offered different perspectives at once, and understand your position in new ways. You might let go of the sense of being in command of space, and instead enjoy a kind of uncertainty. Eliasson often uses the kaleidoscope to bring together the space inside and outside an exhibition. The appearance of both changes as the boundary between the gallery and the world outside is dissolved.

Eliasson has made a series of hanging spheres including the two outside the exhibition and a new work, In real life 2019 here. Each is structured by a complex yet regular geometric principle. The artist is particularly interested in spirals, as they create a sense of energy within the object and outside it through the shadow and light play on the surrounding walls.

Glacial works

Eliasson often uses glacial ice in his work. Sometimes, the ice is intended as a call for action against the climate emergency. Warmer climates have caused the Greenland ice sheet to lose around 200–300 billion tonnes of glacial ice each year, a rate that is expected to increase dramatically. Ice Watch , which was staged in front of Tate Modern in 2018, is an installation of ice blocks fished from the water off the coast of Greenland. It offered a direct and tangible experience of the reality of melting Arctic ice.

Other works, like those in this room, are a more abstract reference to the changing environment. In Glacial currents 2018, chunks of glacial ice were placed on top of washes of coloured pigment. This created swells and fades of colour as they melted onto the paper beneath. In The presence of absence pavilion 2019, a bronze cast makes visible the empty space left by a block of glacial ice that melted away. Glacial spherical flare 2019 is constructed with glass made from small rock particles created by glacial erosion.

Eliasson visited Iceland regularly in his childhood and still has a strong connection to the country’s landscape. Over the years he has created photographic series that document the country. He has described Iceland as a place he needs to engage with physically – by climbing, walking, swimming or even water rafting. He took the photographs in The river-raft series 2000 from a raft as it was swept downstream.

Spending time in Iceland means Eliasson has witnessed firsthand how global warming is causing its glaciers to melt. This room includes a series of photographs of Iceland’s glaciers photographed by Eliasson in 1999. This will be joined in the autumn by a brand-new series taken in 2019 which show the changes in this landscape that are happening now.

Eliasson’s time in Iceland also attuned him to atmospheric conditions. This led to his interest in how artists have captured light throughout history. In Colour experiments 2019, Eliasson analysed the colour palettes of two paintings by German artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) that depict the vastness of nature: Der Mönch am Meer (The Monk by the Sea) 1808–10, and Der einsame Baum (The Lonely Tree) 1822. Each painting was abstracted into all the colours it contains. These were then distributed 93 proportionately around each canvas to form an alternative colour wheel.

Dividing this room from the next is Suney 1995, an early example of Eliasson’s interest in colour, architecture and perception.

The Expanded Studio

For some time, Eliasson’s practice has extended beyond making artworks, exhibitions, and public sculptures. He has worked – with his studio and with outside collaborators – on architectural projects, a cookbook, an art school, and on dance projects. He has founded an architectural practice, called Studio Other Spaces , with his long-time collaborator Sebastian Behmann, and initiated projects directly addressing issues facing the world today. These include projects to do with renewable energy (Little Sun), climate change ( Ice Watch ) and migration ( Green light – An artistic workshop ). These build on Eliasson’s long-held interests in the environment, light and community that led him to make the kinds of works in this exhibition.

The Expanded Studio evokes the broader interests and activities that Eliasson’s studio in Berlin pursues. The long pin-board wall here is based on the walls in the studio where teams of researchers and craftspeople, as well as Eliasson himself, share questions, articles, images and news clippings. The materials here are arranged around keywords in alphabetical order.

There are also films showing some of these projects in action – Little Sun, Green light and Ice Watch – as well as impressions of his architectural projects and of life in his studio. You can watch these films at home at www.soe.tv .

On the circular table, you will find Eliasson’s work The structural evolution project , first staged in 2001. Using Zometool sticks and connectors, you can collaborate to build and rebuild structures and shapes. Every other Wednesday, there will be a live link up with the studio showing daily life and a range of projects and activities taking place there.

For Ice Watch, Eliasson and geologist Minik Rosing install blocks of glacial ice in public places.

The ice is fished out of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord in Greenland after becoming detached from the ice sheet. As a result of global warming, more icebergs are being produced, which is contributing to rising sea levels. Warmer climates have caused the Greenland ice sheet to lose around 200–300 billion tonnes each year, a rate that is expected to increase dramatically. Eliasson and Rosing hope that Ice Watch will raise awareness of the climate emergency by providing a direct and tangible experience of the reality of melting artic ice. Visitors can look at it, move around it and touch it.

Ice Watch was first installed at City Hall Square, Copenhagen in 2014, to mark the publication of the UN IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change. In 2015 it was shown at Place du Panthéon to mark the publication of the UN IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change. The third version of Ice Watch was on view from December 2018 to early January 2019 at two locations in London – outside Bloomberg’s European headquarters and in front of Tate Modern.

When they were installed outside Tate Modern, each of the ice blocks weighed between 1.5 and 5 tonnes. The carbon cost for bringing the 30 blocks of ice to the two sites in London was approximately equal to flying two school classes (52 students) from London to Greenland and back to witness the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. In comparison, hundreds of thousands of visitors experienced Ice Watch in London and connected with the issue of the climate emergency.

Architecture

Eliasson’s interests in movement, light and space have led him to create many large-scale installation works, as seen in this exhibition. Early in his career he also began working on free-standing structures and pavilions. Eliasson hopes his geometric experimentation will help us create new forms that challenge the usual ways of building and moving about spaces.

Over the years, this multidisciplinary approach has grown in size and scope. It includes works such as Your rainbow panorama 2006–11, located on top of ARoS, Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark; the facades of Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Iceland 2005–11, created with Henning Larsen Architects; and Cirkelbroen (Circle bridge) 2015, a pedestrian bridge in central Copenhagen.

Fjordenhus 2009–18, in Vejle, Denmark, was the first full building that Eliasson and his studio designed with his long-time collaborator, architect Sebastian Behmann. The building is constructed entirely around circles and curves. Every detail was planned by Eliasson and the studio, down to the tables and lamps and the patterns of the bricks. In 2014 Eliasson and Behmann set up an architectural office, Studio Other Spaces, to focus especially on large-scale projects that span art and architecture.

Studio Olafur Eliasson Kitchen at the Terrace Bar

Please visit the SOE Kitchen at the Terrace Bar downstairs. Soups, salads, bread and cakes based on those served in the studio are available, and the Terrace Bar has been transformed to reflect the atmosphere of Eliasson’s kitchen in Berlin. You are invited to eat, family-style, at tables similar to the studio’s, surrounded by artworks and lamps by Eliasson.

The Terrace Bar is hosting a public programme on subjects such as sustainability and community, and practical workshops on fermentation, baking and preservation. A schedule and further information can be found at SOE Kitchen at the Terrace Ba r.

We recommend

Olafur eliasson: in real life.

Olafur Eliasson returns to Tate Modern with this unmissable exhibition

Olafur Eliasson

How eliasson is changing our perceptions.

Discover three ways in which he used art to create a new world view

Five things to do with your family at the Olafur Eliasson exhibition

Read our top tips to get the most out of your visit

Olafur Eliasson opens his new satellite studio in Reykjavik to the public

• Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

It’s hard for anything to stay hidden for long in Reykjavik. With a population of 120,000, the highstreet feels like a backstreet (albeit a quaintly beautiful one), and everyone knows everyone. In the even less-trodden industrial area to the northwest of the city, where cranes and fish trawlers rhythmically churn up the harbour, and a tinny, sulfurous smell fills the air, a recently converted herring factory is quietly setting the citywide standard in art, architecture and design. Marshall House was converted by local architects Ási Sturluson and Steinþór Kárason of Kurt og Pí earlier this year in an undertaking they describe as ‘the project of a lifetime’. Almost ten years in planning, and one in the making, the conversion was riddled with difficulties. The city council keeps a close eye on the heritage of the area, and has already banned new hotels from popping up. Required by regulators to retain the white, window-lined shell, Kurt og Pí had to work from the inside out to create a viable space to show art – still tricky with so many windows and such little blank wallspace. They accomodated this by creating temporary partition walls within the vast, light-filled warehouses. To wit, they had to dig out the original 1948 flooring to fully eradicate the smell of herring.

Olafur Eliasson has opened a satellite studio in Marshall House. Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Tucked away at the top of an impressive concrete staircase – with railings repurposed from the factory’s original steel framework – is the satellite studio of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. Berlin has long been the artist’s primary site for artistic production, where Studio Olafur Eliasson is large enough to house a dedicated project team and a range of passing interdisciplinary collaborators. In comparison, the Reykjavik studio is a small, informal cluster of rooms; a space for thinking and experimentation in direct response to the Icelandic context. ‘Opening a satellite studio in Reykjavik is, for me, a very natural step,’ Eliasson says. ‘I’ve always felt emotionally connected to Iceland; its landscape and unique light conditions have been a strong source of inspiration, and an environment in which to test artistic ideas – almost like a studio situation itself.’ From the studio’s eastern-facing windows, Eliasson can look across the harbour, to one of his larger creations – the façade of Harpa Concert and Conference Centre , which opened in 2011. Intimately connecting the two buildings, and celebrating the unique light-quality that seems to hang between them in the bay, Eliasson has designed custom light fittings for his new studio, from the same glass as the blue-green windows of the concert hall.

The move to Reykjavik was ‘a very natural step’, says Eliasson. Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Thanks to management from Börkur Arnarson – the owner of i8 Gallery, Eliasson’s Icelandic representation – the new studio is also open to the public. In a very community-focused, Icelandic way, locals use it as a place to sit, talk and create. Marshall House is also home to two locally important, grassroots art institutions, Kling & Bang and The Living Arts Museum – both of which struggled to maintain their flagship locations elsewhere in the city in the aftermath of Iceland’s economic crisis. Marshall House scooped them up, and gave them free reign to develop their spaces as they wished. The latter is currently showing an exhibition of its ‘disordered library’ of 800 first-edition art books, collected over the last 40 years. Downstairs, an open-plan café, level with the ocean at high tide, serves fresh seafood and great apéro to visitors. It also doubles as an off-the-beaten-track watering hole for local artists. With his studio space just around the corner, Ragnar Kjartansson is said to be a regular. The artist-run, artist-first factory is a symbol of, and commitment to, Iceland’s home-grown creativity. Commercial galleries are still fairly uncommon in the city, and community-led projects take precedent. Still, few are as far-reaching and generous as Marshall House’s beautifully designed 1,800 sq ft space, which would be a treat for artists and visitors alike in the busiest of capital cities.

Olafur Eliasson’s studio in Marshall House. Courtesy of the artist

Untitled (Spiral) , 2017, by Olafur Eliasson. Courtesy of the artist and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Open to the public, Marshall House has an open-plan café and bar downstairs. Photography: Ari Magg. Courtesy of Marshall House

Marshall House is also home to grassroots art institutions, The Living Arts Museum (pictured) and Kling & Bang. Photography: Vigfús Birgisson. Courtesy of Marshall House

INFORMATION

Open Tuesdays to Sundays 12–6pm, and until 9pm on Thursdays. For more information, visit the Studio Olafur Eliasson website and I8 gallery website

Grandagarður 20 101 Reykjavík

Wallpaper* Newsletter

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.

The all-electric Pininfarina Battista Reversario is joining its aesthetic inverse in an ultra-select car collector’s garage. We take a look at a car built to a very precise order

By Jonathan Bell Published 21 April 24

Discover Brazilian jewellery designer Fernando Jorge's snake-like silhouettes and graphic shapes

By Hannah Silver Published 21 April 24

Abreham Brioschi teams up with luxury rug experts Nodus to translate visions from his heritage into a tactile reality

By Ifeoluwa Adedeji Published 21 April 24

Olafur Eliasson marks launch of Azabudai Hills Gallery, in Tokyo’s major new district, with a show of elemental strength

By Danielle Demetriou Published 27 November 23

In ‘Nel Tuo Tempo’, a major show at Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi, Olafur Eliasson bends perceptions of Renaissance architecture through dazzling site-specific installations

By Will Jennings Last updated 13 October 22

Perfectly located between North America and Europe, Reykjavík has become a cultural pitstop for collectors, attracted by the Icelandic capital's vibrant art scene, emerging gallery spaces, and striking architecture

By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated 9 October 22

The Danish-Icelandic artist’s augmented reality Earth Speakr initiative puts children at the core of the climate change discourse 

By Harriet Lloyd Smith Last updated 24 August 22

The Danish-Icelandic artist’s summerlong Tate Modern takeover begins with far-reaching retrospective and Terrace Bar treats

By Elly Parsons Last updated 7 August 22

By Elly Parsons Last updated 12 October 22

By Elly Parsons Published 3 November 18

By Julia Neel Last updated 28 October 22

• Contact Future's experts
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Cookies policy
• Advertise with us

Wallpaper* is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site . © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

With Life , I work actively to create a space of coexistence among those involved in and affected by the exhibition – the art institution, my artwork, the visitors, other beings that join in,

The trees and other plants in the park, the urban landscape that surrounds the museum, and beyond. through collectively exploring the world we share, we can, i hope, make it livable for all species..

Anyone visiting the Fondation Beyeler in the next months can walk into the building at any time of day, for the exhibition is open day and night and there are no doors or windows keeping the world out. The landscape surrounding the building spills into the interior, flooding the gallery spaces with a brackish, artificially green pond in which a variety of plants thrive.

… true freedom can only be found in the protection of others’ freedom, and even further in the protection of all life’s need to flourish.

Visitors may wind their ways through the exhibition along dark wooden walkways, accompanied by the ambient sounds of insects, traffic, and other people – as well as the smells of the plants and water.

Views of the surrounding landscape, a publicly accessible garden, become visible as visitors progress through the gallery spaces along a number of possible routes that allow them time to slow down, wander, and contemplate each of the subtly different spaces.

Since it is not possible to avoid complicity, we do better to start from an assumption that everyone is implicated.

Start with the plants, follow their inquisitive growth ….

For Life , Eliasson has removed a broad section of the Fondation Beyeler’s windows. This act, which the artist describes as ‘caring’, opens up the museum to its surroundings, to the plants and animals of the public park, to the urban landscape, to the changing weather, and to the fluctuations in light and darkness.

Institution, visitors, and other life forms are thrown together in a space of coexistence. Life blurs the separation between outside and inside, museum and artwork – an effect that extends to Eliasson’s wish to keep the gallery open day and night.

Instead of dominating and forcing nature, we have the opportunity to align and become a force of/for nature.

Light and darkness significantly change the experience of Life . How it is experienced depends radically on the time of day: the water appears bright green in daylight and fluoresces at night, an effect achieved through a combination of ultraviolet light and a fluorescent dye in the water, known as uranine.

We talk about light all the time, but darkness is also important.

From the smallest bacteria, fungi and plants to flies and fish and mammals, living things all have a remarkably similar set of ‘clock genes’ that generate an internal cycle of about twenty-four hours..

The water fills the exhibition space, connecting the interior with the outdoor pond and creating a continuous waterscape. The surface of the water, depending on the light conditions and the weather, reveals a spectrum of reflections that involve the surrounding space as well as the visitors, making them co-producers of the artwork.

If we think we already know what is out there, we will almost surely miss much of it.

Objects are not necessarily solid, and my idea is that they might be more like liquids – you can’t really hold on to them..

The pond in the museum’s garden connects with the gallery’s interior spaces to create a continuous waterscape. A great number of plants, all of which thrive in shallow water, inhabit the surface of the pond: floating fern, dwarf water lilies, shellflower, red root floater, and water caltrop.

And the sun, the sun, this is all that it asks for …

Some of these were already an integral part of the existing pond. Others will settle in this habitat during the course of the exhibition. These interlopers enter into dialogue with the existing flora of the museum park, the bushes, grass, and trees there, some of which are centuries old. The result is an interpenetrating, intertwined growth.

I shall never see them, those lightless rooms. Your breath bubbling up from hidden pools.

Who made this planet livable and breathable for animals like us.

Eliasson takes inspiration from the anthropologist Natasha Myers, who invites us to ‘vegetalise’ our senses in order to grasp the potential of plant–people relations.

This stems from her proposal for an alternative to the Anthropocene, the present geological epoch defined by human activity: a new epoch that she calls the ‘Planthroposcene’. Myers’s ideas are rooted in the knowledge that plants are what made this planet liveable.

The art work offers the opportunity to activate the senses, with more than just sight – through the smells of the plants and water, the sounds of the surroundings, and the sensation of the moisture in the air – it activates the full sensorium.

… we do not yet know what a plant wants or what a plant knows.

The sense of time passing becomes part of the artwork. In Eliasson’s words, the exhibition tries to ‘unlock time’, to make its presence apparent not as a standardised unit of measure but as a lived, felt sense, inseparable from experience.

While Life gives the impression that nature has taken over the Fondation Beyeler, it is simultaneously clear that the exhibition evokes a profoundly sculpted experience. Eliasson sees the artwork as a naturalcultural landscape for humans and non-humans alike.

Visitors are encouraged to experience themselves within an expanded landscape, never alone, never fully separated, but as composite beings, invariably caught up in larger, unruly ecologies. Reminiscent of a quiet garden, the artwork exists at the same time in our global now, defined not least by the climate emergency.

It is hard for me to think of any challenge I might face without soliciting the assistance of others, human and not human.

… not just other human lives, but other sensate creatures, environments, and infrastructures: we depend upon them, and they depend on us, in turn, to sustain a livable world..

Even when no human visitors are in the space, other beings – insects or birds, for instance – may fly through or take up temporary abode within it. Together and in relation to other, non-living things in the space, these various inhabitants and visitors form a fragile ecosystem, leaving, over time, traces of human and non-human interventions and interactions.

We need honesty. We need to be freed from our species-specific arrogance.

Life , as a living organism, is subject to constant change. Exhaled air is inhaled again by other living beings and light is converted into oxygen by plants through photosynthesis.

Why advocate the vitality of matter?

Life is also about  con -spiring – playing on the origin of the word (‘to breathe with’) as well as the dictionary definition of  ‘acting in harmony toward a common end’ . It is about conspiring with others and with the planet. Recognising the interconnectedness of complex earth systems invites us to develop narratives for the future in full understanding that humans are not the primary species on this planet.

You are not unseen, not alone. A thousand billion lives bloom within your form, the universe of DNA that you carry inside you, only 10% human …

Cameras in the gallery spaces and in the garden have been installed to inhabit the perspective of non-human creatures, placed, for example, just above the surface of the water or high up in a tree.

Birds have another dimension of colour.

We must imagine all the animals that animate nature around us, as having a soap bubble around them.

The cameras are equipped with a number of optical filters that mimic the perceptual apparatuses of other species. A multi-channel live stream, accessible day and night, alludes to more-than-human perceptions of time and introduces a range of multi-species perspectives of the exhibition and its surroundings.

In the snail’s environment, a stick that moves back and forth four or more times a second must be at rest.

Do viewers move the artwork into their ‘now’ – the moment and world in which the encounter takes place.

Life is open: it is an exhibition with a fluid beginning and end, co-produced by the artist, his studio, the museum, and its visitors – by human and other actor.

This is a love song

• Get Tickets
• Exhibitions

Light experiments for Olafur Eliasson’s upcoming exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2024. Photo by Olafur Eliasson. Courtesy Studio Olafur Eliasson.

Olafur Eliasson

In September 2024, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967, Copenhagen; lives and works in Berlin) presents a new site-specific installation made for The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. In line with Eliasson’s career-long exploration of light and color, geometry, and ecological awareness, the installation will playfully engage with material and immaterial qualities of the building. A series of large-scale optical devices designed specifically for the Geffen will reflect on the architecture of the Geffen, as well as the atmosphere of Los Angeles. Visitors will encounter a dazzling range of patterns, colors, and materials that harness the laws of geometric optics to address feelings of embodiment, perception, and shared experience. Olafur Eliasson is among more than 60 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. Olafur Eliasson is organized by José Luis Blondet, Senior Curator, and Rebecca Lowery, Associate Curator, with Anastasia Kahn, Curatorial Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

The carbon emissions from this exhibition have been measured and reduced as a part of MOCA’s climate commitment. Support provided by the MOCA Environmental Council.

olafur eliasson dances behind light installation in his berlin studio for peggy gou’s music video

Olafur eliasson stars and directs peggy gou’s 1+1=11.

Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson break dances inside a light installation at his studio in Berlin for the new Peggy Gou’s song and music video, 1+1=11. Olafur Eliasson didn’t only star in Peggy Gou’s music video, but he himself directed 1+1=11 as part of their three-part collaborations.

The second comes through the debut album release from the South Korean-born, Berlin-based producer and artist titled ‘I Hear You’ where she’s seen wearing Olafur Eliasson’s Psychoacoustic empathy amp (2023), the dubbed ‘ring of ears.’ A cherry on top, the album’s opening song ‘Your Art’ has Peggy Gou reciting her own rendition of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your planet seen from within’ poem, written to accompany his 2022 TIME magazine cover story.

Olafur eliasson breakdancing in Peggy Gou’s music video

Somehow, when Olafur Eliasson starts dancing behind the pink-shaded light installation in his Berlin studio, the colors and his movement may recall his 2010 artwork, Your uncertain shadow (colour) . In this light installation, anyone who crosses and moves in front of the neon-like lighting gets projected in a spectrum of colors on the walls. Even their height and build change as they move back and forth, similar to the way Olafur Eliasson played with the light installation in his Berlin studio for Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video.

In Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video, Olafur Eliasson is seen gliding, popping, and moving like a robot inside a light installation at his studio in Berlin. He crosses through beams of light from eight projectors, each of a different hue, and the light installation emits colorful shadows and silhouettes that overlap and cascade across the wall. Peggy Gou herself also appears in the artist’s studio among the geometric models, lights, and mirrors, holding aloft a polarizing disc that becomes alternately transparent and dark as she turns it.

‘Street dance enabled me to explore the space of my body’

Olafur Eliasson and Peggy Gou are longtime friends, so it may not be a surprise to have the Icelandic-Danish artist star and direct the South Korean-born musician’s new music video, and collaborate with him for her debut album’s cover. Beyond his grand oeuvre, starring and breakdancing in 1+1=11 music video only relieves and awakens the dance-enlivened teenager self of Olafur Eliasson.

He says that when he was a teenager, breakdancing changed his life. ‘I was into popping, moving like a robot, and doing the electric boogie. Street dance enabled me to explore the space of my body in relation to the world around me. I came to realize that by moving, I could change space. I could change what I saw and what I sensed. And these experiences proved foundational for my later artistic work,’ says Olafur Eliasson.

For Olafur Eliasson, sculpture and dance are both non-verbal languages. ‘Sometimes, in order to communicate, you simply have to move. That’s what happened when I first met Peggy. We were having lunch, talking about our shared interests in psychosonics, rhythm, and movement, and to show her the moves I was talking about, I stood up in the restaurant to dance,’ says Olafur Eliasson.

Olafur Eliasson adds that ‘I was thrilled that she (Peggy Gou) later asked me to dance on video for one of her upcoming releases and to develop the visual language for it. By bringing together dance – embodied exploration of space – with colorful shadows, lights, and mirrors, I was able to bring some of the key interests that have long shaped my art into an entirely new context.’ Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 is now live and can be watched here .

Olafur Eliasson dancing in his Berlin studio

project info:

name: 1+1=11

artists: Olafur Eliasson , Peggy Gou

LIGHT INSTALLATION ART (143)

world’s largest projection mapping display by panasonic lights up tokyo with live animations

OLAFUR ELIASSON (76)

Product library.

a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.

• anish kapoor (32)
• sculpture (354)
• venice art biennale 2024 (12)
• aluminum architecture and design (61)
• art interviews (122)
• milan design week 2024 (43)
• public art (599)
• obituaries (101)
• richard serra (10)

designboom will always be there for you

A Manifesto by Studio Olafur Eliasson Kitchen — 10 rules for celebrating food

Since 2005, Icelandic-Danish contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson and his studio kitchen team, known as SOE Kitchen, have drawn inspiration from and celebrated the connections between human beings, local produce, food and the sun as a system of energy exchange. To them, food provides an ecology of giving, taking and sharing. SOE Kitchen’s manifesto is the labor of collective writing, thinking and doing. It marks Earth Day, 22 April 2024, with the question: how can we sculpt more caring relationships with Earth? Today, tomorrow and every day, starting now.

• Download the poster

Icelandic-Danish contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson is best known for his sculptures and large-scale installation art using natural and elemental materials like light and water. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research. In 2003 he represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale and that same year created the installation The Weather Project , which has been described as “a milestone in contemporary art”, in the Tate Modern, London.

More from Olafur Eliasson

Yes, But Why? — Olafur Eliasson’s impact explained by Tate curator Mark Godfrey

Things to do in Moscow: how to visit Moscow | Unmissable, cool & unusual

• September 2, 2023

What are the best things to do in Moscow? What to do in Moscow? First, I will list the main places to visit by theme, passing by the must-sees, but also more unusual places in Moscow. Then, I will describe what to see in Moscow in one day and how to visit Moscow in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 days. Let’s go!

Good to know. For more information, click on the places to open the dedicated blog posts.

Main places to visit in Moscow & best things to do in Moscow

I worked in Moscow and I loved this city for its dynamism and energy. We find there from time to time to see friends, remember good memories and enjoy this giant city! Then the time has come for us to share with you our practical guide.

TOP 5 must-see places in Moscow

• Moscow Red Square
• St. Basil’s Cathedral
• Cathedral of Christ the Savior
• Bolshoi Theatre

Places of cultural, historical and religious interest in Moscow

• Novodevichy Convent and cemetery
• Tretyakov Gallery
• Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
• Kremlin Izmaïlovo (pseudo-historic place, recently built in the image of the old, one of the best things to do in Moscow for your Instagram account 😉 )
• Park and ancient village of Kolomenskoye

Visit Moscow of the Soviet era

• Moscow State University and Sparrows Hill
• VDNKh and the Museum of Astronautics, one of the key landmarks of the Soviet era in Moscow
• GULAG Museum
• Metro stations
• The Stalinist skyscrapers, scattered all over the city

Less touristy places in Moscow

• Gorky Park and the GARAGE museum
• The old Krasny Oktyabr factory
• Zaryadye Park
• Center for Contemporary Art, WINZAVOD
• Business center, Moscow City

Main districts of Moscow to visit

• Patriarch Ponds
• Tchistye Prudy
• Kuznetsky most
• Arbat Street

However, regardless of the length of your stay, whether you are going to visit Moscow in 4 days or in 2, you need a visa. The article Obtaining a tourist visa for Russia could then be useful in any case.

What to do and see in Moscow in one day?

List of things to see and do in Moscow in one day:

• Go to Red Square
• Visit St. Basil’s Cathedral
• See Kremlin walls (but not to visit)
• Visit Cathedral of Christ the Savior
• Discover Kuznetsky most districts and see Bolshoi Theatre building
• And if you have time at the end of the day: go to the Sparrows Hill or to the Moscow City for a beautiful view

Things to do in Moscow in 2 days

If you want to visit Moscow in 2 days, there are 2 purposes: do not miss the essential places of Moscow and optimize travel.

• First day: Red Square , Saint Basil’s Cathedral , Zariadye Park, Bolshoi Theatre , Kremlin
• Day 2: Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the former Krasny Oktyabr factory on Balchug Island, Gorky Park, Moscow State University (one of the Seven Sisters buildings ) and Sparrow Hill

As 2 days os really short, be sure to choose an accommodation in the best districts where to stay in Moscow .

Walking on Red Square in Moscow: one of the unmissable things to do in Moscow

Iconic place and one of the must-see places in Moscow and even in Russia! Besides, if there was only one place to visit in Moscow in 2 days, this place would then be Red Square, without hesitation. Therefore, starting the city tour with Red Square is ideal . Several buildings are on the square, but not all of them have to be visited. Check out my blog post about Moscow’s Red Square in detail to learn more and not miss anything.

Visiting Saint-Basil’s Cathedral inside

Even more emblematic than Moscow’s Red Square! Built in the middle of the 16th century under the orders of Tsar Ivan Le Terrible, this cathedral is one of the most beautiful monuments of Orthodox art, and definitely one of the unmissable places in Moscow. Visiting Saint-Basil’s Cathedral inside is one of the most beautiful things to do in Moscow!

• Visit estimate time : 1h30
• Entry ticket : 700 RUB. Tickets can be purchased on the cathedral’s official website 45 days before the tour.
• Audio guide (recommended): 500 RUB
• Opening hours : June to August 10 am-6pm; from November to April: 11 am-5pm; May, September, October 11 am-5pm. Cathedral closed on Wednesdays. Entrance is closed 45 minutes before closing.
• Find out more in the dedicated article: Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow

Take a walk in Zariadye park: one of the coolest things to do in Moscow after visiting Red Square

Zaryadie Park is just a 10-minute walk from St. Basil’s Cathedral, so it’s easy to include in your itinerary if you’re going to visit Moscow in 2 days. From its heights, you can see the red walls of the Kremlin. But, the most impressive point of view is the platform which overlooks the Moskva river. A must see! And clearly one of the coolest things to do in Moscow!

• Open 24 hours a day
• Good to know! Park Zaryadye is also a place to visit in Moscow in winter. Find out more here: What to do in Moscow in winter?

See the Bolshoi Theatre and discover the Kuznetsky Most district

The Bolshoi Theatre is the most famous Russian theater in the world. The most economical way to see a presentation at the Bolshoi Theater is to take the tickets on the theater’s official website in advance, so here is our tutorial to help you: How to buy entrance tickets to the Bolshoi? In addition, several pedestrian or one-way streets

The Bolshoi Theater is the most famous Russian theater in the world. The most economical way to see a presentation at the Bolshoi Theater is to take the tickets on the theater’s official website in advance, so here is our tutorial to help you: How to buy tickets to the Bolshoi? In addition, several pedestrian or one-way streets are located north of the theater. It is therefore very pleasant to find them to leave the main axes of the megalopolis.

Visit the Moscow Kremlin

Visit Kremlin is on top of things to do in Moscow. A place of power for centuries, the Kremlin then shows us a whole different image when viewed from the inside. If you want to visit Moscow in 2 days, the Kremlin is certainly one of the must-see places in Moscow.

• Opening hours : Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Thursday.
• See our blog post about visiting the Moscow Kremlin

Visit the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

This impressive Moscow Cathedral is the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is a must see if you visit Moscow in 2 days and clearly one of the things to do in Moscow. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was first built in 1883 in memory of Russia’s victory over Napoleon’s Grand Army. Then in 1931 Stalin ordered its destruction. It was then rebuilt again (identically) only in 2000.

• Where? Ulitsa Volkhonka 15. At the foot of the Kropotkinskaya metro station.
• Opening hours . Daily: 10: 00-17: 00, except Monday: 13: 00-17: 00
• Free entry (some closing restrictions, for example a short)

Good to know! In orthodox religious places, one must avoid excessively uncovered clothing. Women should cover their heads. After visiting the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, you can explore Bolotny Island and Gorky Park. This is one of the routes our guide to Moscow.

The old Krasny Oktyabr factory: one of the coolest things to do in Moscow

If you cross the Moskva River by a pedestrian bridge which is located just in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, you will enjoy a beautiful view of the city and at the same time you can discover Balchug Island. Furthermore, if you want to visit Moscow in 2 days, you can include this island in your itinerary between the cathedral and Gorky park. Here is the old confectionery factory Krasny Oktyabr, which has gradually turned into a fashionable micro-district. There are then some elements of street art, cafes and restaurants and some Moscow bohemian side. At the end of the island you can see a gigantic 98-meter-high monument dedicated to the Russian reforming tsar Pierre The Great.

Good to know! You can find on this island are the trendiest nightclubs in Moscow. On weekends, there are taxi caps after midnight so there are so many people. On the other hand, if you go there in winter and during the day, the island is quite empty and less interesting to see.

Gorky Park is one of the TOP places to visit in Moscow, because it allows you to better understand the life of the locals and their rhythm. In fact, it’s a huge entertainment park. For example, in winter there is a giant ice rink and in summer – free dance or yoga lessons, sandy beaches for playing volleyball, an outdoor cinema. So, like the locals, have a Stakantchik (ice cream or cooked corn), and enjoy the atmosphere of the place: that’s one of the interesting things to do in Moscow to discover the city.

• Where? Krymsky Val 9. 20 minutes’ walk from Krasny Oktyabr, along the quays.

Sparrow Hill and Moscow State University

The Sparrow Hill, Vorobiovy Gori in Russian, is the highest point in Moscow. It is rather known to Russians, but less to travelers. A nice view on Moscow opens from the hill, and in particular on the Luzhniki Stadium. In addition, on the hill itself is the Moscow State University: an impressive skyscraper from the Soviet era.

• How to get there? By bus T7 (35 min) from Oktyaborskaya station, near Gorki Park. By metro (Vorobiovy Gorki station) + climb the hill on foot. On foot along the Moskva along the Gorky Park (1h30) + climb in funiculars.

Good to know! It is possible to cross the Moskva river by funicular. We actually tested it and it was pretty cool! That is one of our favorite things to do in Moscow!

What to do in Moscow in 3 days?

If you are going to visit Moscow in 3 days, it would be interesting to dive into the Soviet era which strongly marked the country and the city. After the Bolshevik Revolution, the capital was transferred from Saint Petersburg to Moscow, in order to mark the change of power. Moscow then became the world showcase for communist ideology. Here are the best things to do in Moscow for 3-day-trip!

VDNKh, visit Moscow of the Soviet era

VDNKh is a large exhibition center in the north of Moscow, where there are still several striking witnesses of the USSR. The most interesting are the Museum of Cosmonauts and the Statue of the Worker and the Kolkhozian , which will certainly impress you with its size!

GULAG History Museum

The explanations of the museum are very well done. We really have the feeling of going back in time. If you are going to visit Moscow in 3 days and you are interested in history and this subject in particular, I recommend this museum. Visit the GULAG History Museum is one of the most interesting things to do in Moscow.

Discover the Patriarche Pounds district

It’s a nice neighborhood in Moscow where you can come across rather affluent locals, but not necessarily very bling-bling. Take a walk in this area is really a cool thing to do in Moscow! In addition, the Ponds of Patriarch is one of the places of Bulgakov’s novel “Master and Margarita”. As this is an interesting area to see, we have included it in a walking tour of Moscow. The route ends at the Moscow Kremlin, which is very convenient, because you will be able to visit Moscow in 3 days by optimizing your trips.

What to visit in Moscow in 4 days: TOP things to do in Moscow in 4 days

If you want to visit Moscow in 3 days, you will already see a lot of things. On the other hand, if you stay one more day, you have plenty to do! The Novodevichy Convent, the Tchistie Proudy district and the Izmaylovo Kremlin are very good candidates for you, if you are going to visit Moscow in 4 days.

Visiting Novodevichy Convent in Moscow

The Novodevichy Convent is one of the most brilliant examples of Russian architecture, according to UNESCO. This beautiful complex was built in 1524 and today consists of the convent, but also of a cemetery whose status could be compared to that of Père-Lachaise in Paris. Visiting Novodevichy Convent is one of the great things to do in Moscow, if you want to go a little bit outside of the center!

Discovering Tchistye Proudy district

It’s one of the most popular areas of Moscow, with many cafes, restaurants and bars nearby. It is therefore a place to discover if you want to visit Moscow in 4 days. It is just as pleasant for a stroll as for the discovery of local life. For example, in winter the pond turns into an ice rink.

Visiting the Izmaylovo Kremlin, one of the coolest things to do in Moscow!

The Izmaylovo Kremlin is more of a tourist than a historic place. On the other hand, it is a pretty impressive place to discover, especially on weekends. Inside the Kremlin, there is a flea market where you can find a little bit of everything, but mostly good souvenirs to bring from Moscow. For example, chapka, traditional Russian scarves or matryoshka (Russian dolls). Add the Kremlin and the Izmaïlovo market to your itinerary if you are going to visit Moscow in 4 days, because it is a nice and very colorful place! Visiting the Izmailovo Kremlin is one of the things to do in Moscow, if you want to put colors in your Instagram account! 😉

In 4 days, we will have the opportunity to see several Moscow: Classic Moscow, Moscow of old Russia, Soviet Moscow and a little bit of the new Moscow. So what to visit in Moscow on the 5th day of travel?

What to visit in Moscow in 5 days?

Art lovers will be delighted to discover the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, while others will prefer to stroll along Arbat Street, see the buildings of Moskva-City or visit Bunker 42.

Admiring Russian art at Tretyakov Gallery

Founded in 1856 by an industrialist and great lover of art, the gallery has grown over the decades, and then bequeathed to the state. Today the collection includes more than 140,000 pieces, 15,000 of which are paintings. Visiting the Tretyakov Gallery is one of the things to do in Moscow if you want to discover Russian art!

• Where? Pereoulok Lavrouchinski 10. A 5-minute walk from Tretiakovskaya station
• Opening hours. Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Closed on Mondays.
• Entry tickets. 500 RUB.

Visiting the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts presents the treasures of ancient Egypt, the paintings of Rembrandt and Cézanne, a fine collection of Impressionism.

• Where? Ulitsa Volkhonka 12
• Opening hours. Daily: 10: 00-20: 00, except Thursday: 11: 00-21: 00. Closed on Mondays. The boxes close an hour before closing.
• Entry tickets. The prices vary according to the collections from 300 to 750 RUB.

Walking on Arbat Street

All Russians know Rue Arbat. So, walking on Arbat street is one of the things to do in Moscow. However, after the years, little by little it became very touristy. This is a pedestrian street only. There are souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes there, but it is no longer the most authentic neighborhood in the city.

Seeing the buildings of Moskva-City (Moscow City)

Moskva-City is Moscow’s business center, much like Paris’s Defense district. The skyscrapers of Moskva-City are among the tallest in Europe: 373 meters high! Very nice place to see at dusk.

Good to know! You can admire a nice view of Moscow City from the docks of Tarasa Shevchenko. It’s especially beautiful in the evening with all the lights on.

Bunker 42, one of the most unusual things to do in Moscow

Bunker 42 is a secret military complex which was to be used by the Soviets in the event of a nuclear attack: a space of 7000 m² 65 meters underground!

• Where? 5 Kotelnitcheski Lane, 11.
• Prices. 2200 RUB per person
• Opening hours. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Restaurant inside. Original, but rather a tourist trap.

What to visit in Moscow in 6 days or more?

There are still so many places to see, because Moscow is a big megalopolis and there is always something exciting to do there. For example: the ancient Kolomenskoye village or the WINZAVOD contemporary art center .

If you are interested in history and want to see Russian cities on a rather “human scale”, it would certainly be interesting for you to discover the cities of the Golden Ring . For example, it is very easy to get to Sergey Posad from Moscow (less than 2 hours in train). Visiting the Golden Ring is one of the best things to do in Moscow if you are staying more than a 5-6 days.

There are still plenty of places to see in Moscow, however I did my best to list here the best things to do in Moscow, what to see in Moscow in one day, but also in 2, 3, 4 or 5 days in Moscow!

Moscow travel tips:

• Airport transfer: how to go to Moscow?
• Where to stay in Moscow (hotels, districts)?
• Tourist voucher for Russian visa
• Christmas and New Year in Moscow
• What is the best time to visit Moscow?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Novodevichy Convent and cemetery in Moscow: tickets, cemetery map

Hermitage museum in saint petersburg: tickets, best time to visit, you may also like.

Moscow in winter | What to do in Moscow in winter? How to dress?

• October 1, 2023

Free Moscow map in English: Moscow metro map and city centre map

• December 12, 2023

• August 26, 2023

Moscow transport: metro, bus & taxi in Moscow | How does it work?

• August 15, 2023

Weekend in Moscow | What to do in Moscow for a long weekend?

• June 22, 2023

Christmas and New Year in Moscow: best markets and decorations to see

• September 18, 2023

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

19 Unique And Fabulous Experiences In Moscow

• Destinations

Thinking of visiting Russia? When visiting such a famous city, one must, of course, visit the iconic landmarks first. Moscow has plenty of those, most of them in the center of the city, which is very well-planned for tourists. Once you’ve seen the sights that are on most travelers’ lists, it’s time to branch out and visit some of the lesser-known sites, and there are some fascinating places to see and things to do.

I know this list is long, but I just couldn’t help myself. You probably won’t have the time to see them all. But that’s okay. Just scroll through the list and choose what sounds the most interesting to you. Where possible, make sure to book in advance, as things can get crowded, especially during high season.

1. The Red Square, Kremlin, And Surroundings

Red Square (Krasnya Ploshad) is the heart and soul of Russia, and where much of the country’s history has unfolded. This is the most famous landmark in Moscow and indeed the whole country, it’s an absolute must-do! The square is always full of people and has a rather festive atmosphere!

Saint Basil’s Cathedral

This is the famous church with the rainbow-colored, onion-domed roof. The cathedral was commissioned in the 1500s by Ivan the Terrible and according to legend, the Tsar thought it was so beautiful, that he ordered that the architect’s eyes be cut out afterward, so he could never build anything more beautiful! He wasn’t called Ivan the Terrible for no reason!

Lenin’s Mausoleum

The “love-it-or-hate-it” of tourist attractions in Russia. A glass sarcophagus containing the embalmed body of Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin. It may seem a bit bizarre to display the mummy of a person, but it has been there for almost half a century and the 2.5 million visitors who come each year, clearly feel the queuing and thorough body search are worth it, to be in Lenin’s presence.

Pro Tip: no photos and no loud talking are allowed inside the Mausoleum.

Eternal Flame

There is an Eternal Flame in honor of an unknown soldier on the left side of Red Square. The hourly changing of the guards is worth seeing.

The Kremlin is the official residence of the Russian president. You can see it from the outside, or you can take an excursion to one of the museums located inside. This is the biggest active fortress in Europe, and holds a week’s worth of attractions! Once behind the 7,332-feet of walls, there are five squares, four cathedrals, 20 towers, various museums, and the world’s largest bell and cannon to see. Worth a special mention is the Armory Chamber that houses a collection of the famous Faberge Eggs.

Pro Tip: You can only go inside the Kremlin if you are part of a tourist group.

2. Bolshoi Theatre

Bolshoi Theatre translates to “The Big Theatre” in Russian, and the building is home to both the Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera — among the oldest and most famous ballet and opera companies in the world.

Pro Tip: It’s hard to get an inexpensive ticket, so if you’re reading well in advance of going to Moscow then try buying tickets on the official website . Last-minute tickets cost around $250 per person. If this is out of your budget, about an hour before a performance, you can try buying a ticket at the entrance from a reseller. Most can speak enough English to negotiate the price.

Tour the Bolshoi Theatre: You can take a group guided tour of the Bolshoi Theatre which focuses on the history and architecture of the theatre and behind the scenes. There’s an English language tour that lasts 2 hours and costs around $300 for a group of up to six.

3. Luxury Shopping At GUM And TSUM

Russia’s main department store, GUM, has a stunning interior that is home to over 100 high-end boutiques, selling a variety of brands: from luxurious Dior to the more affordable Zara. Even if shopping is not on your Moscow to-do list GUM is still worth a visit; the glass-roofed arcade faces Red Square and offers a variety of classy eateries. TSUM, one of the biggest luxury malls in town, is right behind the Bolshoi and GUM. It’s an imposing building with lots of history, and worth a visit just for its design and its glass roof.

4. Christ The Savior Cathedral

This is one of Russia’s most visited cathedrals and is a newer addition to the gorgeous array of Muscovite cathedrals, but don’t let its young age fool you. After perestroika, in the early 90s, the revived Russian Orthodox Church was given permission to build a cathedral on this site. It did the location honors and built the largest temple of the Christian Orthodox Church. The façade is as grand as you’d expect, but it’s the inside that will mesmerize you, with its domes, gold, gorgeous paintings, and decor!

The cathedral is located just a few hundred feet away from the Kremlin and was the site of the infamous Pussy Riot protest against Putin back in 2012.

Pro Tip: Bring a shawl to cover your hair as is the local custom.

5. Gorky Park

Moscow’s premier green space, Gorky Park (Park Gor’kogo) is the city’s biggest and most famous park. There is entertainment on offer here for every taste, from outdoor dancing sessions to yoga classes, volleyball, ping-pong, rollerblading, and bike and boat rental in summer. In winter, half the park turns into a huge ice skating rink. Gorky Park is also home to an open-air movie theater and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. There is also Muzeon Art Park, a dynamic contemporary space with a unique collection of 700 sculptures. It is located right in front of Gorky Park.

6. Sparrow Hills Park

If you take a walk from Gorky Park, along the Moscow River embankment, you’ll end up in the city’s other legendary park, Sparrow Hills. Although the park doesn’t offer as many activities as its hip neighbor, it has a great panoramic view of the city

Pro Tip: You can take a free walking tour to all of the above attractions with an English-speaking guide.

7. River Cruising

One of the best ways to experience Moscow, and see all the famous landmarks, but from a different angle, is from the Moscow River. Take a river cruise. Avoid the tourist crowds. There are little nameless old boats that do the cruise, but if you are looking for a more luxurious experience take the Radisson Blu cruise and enjoy the sights with some good food and a glass of wine.

8. Metro Hopping

Inaugurated in the 1930s, the Moscow Metro system is one of the oldest and most beautiful in the world. Started in Stalinist times, each station is a work of art in its own right. I’d recommend touring the stations between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. This way, you’ll be able to properly see it without the crowds. Ideally, I’d recommend taking a tour with a knowledgeable guide with GuruWalk, who will tell you stories of forgotten stations and how the history of the country is interconnected with the metro development. If going by yourself, then I definitely recommend checking out: Mayakovskaya, Ploschad Revolutsii, Kievskaya, Kropotkinskaya, Kurskaya, and Novoslobodskaya stations.

Visit the free Moscow Metro Museum: For real train enthusiasts, located in the southern vestibule of Sportivnaya station is a small free museum. Here you can take a peek into the driver’s cabin, see a collection of metro tokens from different cities, and see different models of a turnstile, traffic lights, escalator, and more.

9. Moscow State University View

In his effort to create a grander Moscow, Stalin had seven skyscrapers built in different parts of town; they’re called the Seven Sisters. The largest of these buildings and the one with the best view is the main building of the Moscow State University. Although this is a little outside the city center, the view is more than worth it.

10. Izmailovsky Market

Mostly known for the city’s largest flea market, the district of Izmaylovo is home to a maze of shops where you can get just about anything, from artisan crafts to traditional fur hats, handcrafted jewelry, fascinating Soviet memorabilia, and antiquities. It’s also one of Moscow’s largest green spaces. There are often no price tags, so be prepared to haggle a bit. Head to one of the market cafes for a warming mulled wine before continuing your shopping spree.

The History of Vodka Museum is found here, and the museum’s restaurant is the perfect place to sample various brands of the national drink.

Once you’ve covered the more touristy spots, Moscow still has plenty to offer, and the places below will also be full of locals! So for some local vibes, I would strongly recommend the spots below!

11. Moscow City

With a completely different vibe, Moscow City (also referred to as Moscow International Business Center) is like a mini Dubai, with lots of impressive tall glass buildings. Here is where you’ll find the best rooftops in towns, like Ruski Restaurant, the highest restaurant both in Moscow City and in Europe. Moscow City is great for crowd-free shopping and the best panoramic views of the city.

12. Tretyakov Gallery

Tretyakov Gallery started as the private collection of the Tretyakov brothers, who were 19th-century philanthropists. They gave their private collection to the government after their deaths. If there is just one museum you visit in Moscow, I recommend this one!

13. Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve

Tsaritsyno was a residence of Catherine the Great more than two centuries ago. It became derelict during the Soviet era but has now been fully renovated. With its opulently decorated buildings, gardens, meadows, and forests, Tsaritsyno Park is the perfect place for a green respite in Moscow.

14. Kolomenskoye

A 10-minute metro ride from the city center is Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve, where you can get an idea of what Russia looked like 200 years ago. You’ll find ancient churches (one dating back to the 16th century), the oldest garden in Moscow, and the wonderful fairytale wooden palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, father of Peter the Great.

15. Ostankino TV Tower

Built in 1967, Ostankino TV Tower was the tallest free-standing construction in the world at the time, it’s still the 8th tallest building in the world and the highest in Europe. It’s also the best observation deck, with a glass floor and 360-degree views. The speedy elevators take you 1,105 feet in next to no time.

Pro Tip: You need to book in advance; entrance is based on specific ticket times and the capacity is limited and only a certain number of tourists are allowed per day. Don’t forget your passport, you’ll need it to get through security.

16. Zaryadye Park

Zaryadye is a newly opened, landscaped urban park so new you won’t find it in a lot of tour guides. The park is near Red Square and is divided into four climatic zones: forest, steppe, tundra, and floodplains, depicting the variety of climatic zones in Russia.

These last three suggestions are a little quirky, but all are really worth checking out.

17. Museum Of Soviet Arcade Games

Release your inner child playing on 66 arcade machines from the Soviet era! What a great way to spend a couple of hours when tired of visiting museums and palaces. The staff speaks excellent English and are happy to explain how the games work.

18. Moscow Rooftop Tour

Take a 1-hour private Moscow rooftop tour with an experienced roofer. I can just about guarantee none of your friends will be able to say they’ve done it! For your comfort, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. Take your camera, there are some amazing photo opportunities out there!

19. Sanduny Banya

This classical Russian bathhouse opened its doors in 1808 and is famous for combining traditional Russian banya services with luxurious interiors and service. If you enjoy spas and saunas, then you should experience a Russian bathhouse at least once in your life! Go with an open mind and hire a specialist to steam you as it’s meant to be done — by being beaten repeatedly with a besom (a leafy branch)! This is said to improve circulation, but is best done by a professional!

So there you have my list of things to do in Moscow. I could have gone on and on and on, but I didn’t want to try your patience! There are so many things to do in this vibrant city that you’ll definitely need to allocate several days for exploring.

Here are some other reasons to visit Moscow and Russia:

• 7 Reasons To Put Moscow On Your Travel Bucket List
• Russia 30 Years (And 30 Pounds) Ago
• Massive Mysterious Craters Appearing Again In Siberia

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Africa at the age of 21, Sarah Kingdom is a mountain climber and guide, traveler, yoga teacher, trail runner, and mother of two. When she is not climbing or traveling she lives on a cattle ranch in central Zambia. She guides and runs trips regularly in India, Nepal, Tibet, Russia, and Ethiopia, taking climbers up Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro numerous times a year.

How can we develop more caring relationships to Earth? Today, tomorrow, and every day.⁠ ⁠ ‘The ideas explored by SOE Kitchen shift constantly in scale, extending from the microcosm on the plate to our individual environments and to the planetary system with which we are all entangled. Today on Earth Day, 22 April 2024, we share on  WePresent creative principles for anyone to adopt, with our belief that small impacts lead to greater outcomes.’ - Olafur Eliasson ⁠ WePresent ’s Manifesto series invites activists and creatives to write 10 rules to live by. This month Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and his studio kitchen team, known as SOE Kitchen, celebrate the connections between human beings, local produce, food and the sun as a system of energy exchange.⁠ #EarthDay  

Your glacial expectations , a collaboration between landscape architect Günther Vogt and Olafur, refers in its design to the glaciers that formed the landscape around the Kvadrat headquarters, as can still be seen in the site’s topography and geology. The project does not end at the property boundaries, but incorporates the entire surrounding landscape. Building and parking lot have been integrated into the landscape. ⁠ ⁠ Set directly in the rambling meadows, Olafur’s five mirrors form a series ranging from a perfect circle to ever more elongated ellipses. The mirrors reflect the ever-changing sky above and the contemplator’s own gaze, as if in the surfaces of glacial pools in Iceland. The sky opens up in the soil beneath the viewer. ⁠ ⁠ This blurring of the boundaries between above and below, inside and out, finds resonance in the landscape’s melding of wilderness and garden. The dense and clearly delineated groups of trees, planted by Vogt on slight elevations, may appear to be cultivated gardens from a distance. Up close, they are in fact slices of untended wilderness. Although one might expect to be allowed to enter the wild groves, fences deny access – they are Gardens of Eden that cannot be entered. ⁠ ⁠ The sheep that graze the meadows are not native to the site. Part of Olafur’s vision, they were specially brought in from Iceland for Your glacial expectations.⁠ ⁠ ⁠Image: Your glacial expectations, 2012, Kvadrat, Ebeltoft, Denmark, 2012⁠⁠ Photo: Annabel Elston⁠

12 days ago

Reminiscent of the crystalline basalt columns commonly found in Iceland, the geometric facades of Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre were based on a modular, space-filling structure called the quasi brick. Originally developed by geometer and mathematician Einar Thorsteinn in the 1980s, following fifteen years of research into the topic, the quasi brick is a twelve-sided polyhedron consisting of rhomboidal and hexagonal faces. ⁠ ⁠ 

In 2002, Olafur and Einar began investigating the potential for using the quasi brick in architecture. When the modules are stacked, they leave no gaps between them, so they can be used to build walls and structural elements. The combination of regularity and irregularity in the modules lends the facades a chaotic, unpredictable quality that could not be achieved through stacking cubes. As a result, the facades for Harpa are both aesthetically and functionally integral to the building. ⁠ 

Only the main south facades of Harpa employ the three-dimensional quasi bricks; the irregular geometric patterns of the west, north, and east facades were derived from a two-dimensional sectional cut through the three-dimensional bricks. ⁠ The quasi brick modules incorporate panes of colour-effect filter glass, which appear to be different colours according to how the light hits them; the building shimmers, reacting to the weather, time of year or day, and the position and movements of viewers.⁠ 

Olafur and his studio designed the facades of Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre in collaboration with Henning Larsen Architects.⁠ ⁠ 

Image: Façade for Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre , Reykjavik, 2013, Photo: Nic Lehoux⁠ 

a month ago

In 2008, Olafur harvested about fifty large tree trunks from the northern coast of Iceland. The wood, not native to that country, where less than one percent of the land is covered in forest, belonged to a mass of timber that washes up on Iceland’s shores from Siberia, carried by drifting polar ice and bleached by the sun and saltwater during its long transit.⁠ ⁠ After shipping the trunks to Berlin, Olafur then curated an urban intervention with the driftwood, inserting the massive logs into the cityscape overnight, leaving them in unexpected locations, on main plazas and small side streets alike. The trunks were placed in roundabouts, parking areas, and other in-between spaces as if they had simply drifted into the city and become entangled in its grid. This intervention, titled 'Berliner Treibholz' (Berlin driftwood; 2009), used the timber to generate small frictional dialogues, offering momentary thresholds of subtle resistance to our often pragmatic and automated relations with our surroundings.⁠ ⁠ The driftwood represents a story of migration and a narrative of natural forces. These nomads hover on the border between natural and artificial, between the normal and the unexpected, just as they float on the border of the sea and the Icelandic shore.⁠ ⁠ Images: ' Berliner Treibholz' , 2009. Berlin, 2010. 

2 months ago

' Your double-lighthouse projection ' deals with the concept of ‘completing’ a work in the eye of the beholder. ⁠ ⁠ ‘Faced with two circular rooms of different sizes, viewers are initially invited to enter the larger space incorporating hundreds of red, blue and green fluorescent tubes encased behind a seamless translucent wall. The colour of the illuminated enclosure, flooding the perceptual field, gradually changes through a random spectrum, from pink to blue to orange and so on. At each point, the retinal after-image mixes the colours perceived before the eye, until it becomes impossible to differentiate between the two. The adjacent room, lit simply with white light, provides viewers with the opportunity to refresh their visual faculties. Always in a state of flux, the work constantly communicates new experience and meaning.’⁠ - Susan May, Tate Modern curator, ‘Meteorologica’, from 'Olafur Eliasson: The Weather Project‘, 2003.  ⁠ Image: 'Your double-lighthouse projection,' 2002⁠. Tate Modern, London, 2004 – 2002, Tate Photography (Andrew Dunkley & Marcus Leith).

Starting in 2018 Olafur began producing artworks inspired by the phenomenon of the lens flare – the rings and circles of light that appear in a lens when it is pointed towards the sun or another bright light source. Resulting from the physics of the lens, flares are generally considered errors to be avoided in photography and film. Olafur, however, transforms these undesired flares into a central element to be explored in all its aesthetic possibilities. Originating in his long interest in light and refraction, this body of works includes projections as well as dynamic glass wall compositions like this one. Colourful panes of silvered, handblown glass are arranged according to the geometrical arrangements that result from the flare. The ripples, bubbles, and small irregularities in the hand-blown panes of glass reflect the craftsmanship that has gone into the artwork’s production and lend the shapes a fluid organic quality. The vibrant composition of overlapping circles and ellipses stretches out in front of a grey background that presents a spiralling vortex flattened into two dimensions.⁠ ⁠ Image: 'The spiralling presence of the not-too-distant future', 2023 (photo: Jens Ziehe).         

‘ The Flesh of the Earth ,’ a multidisciplinary exhibition curated by Nigerian-American writer and critic Enuma Okoro opened recently at Hauser and Wirth, New York. ⁠ ⁠ The exhibition, in the words of Okoro, ‘encourages us all to consider ways of decentering ourselves from the prevalent anthropocentric narrative, to reimagine a more intimate relationship with the earth and to renew our connection with the life-force energy that surges through all of creation, both human and more-than-human. Our human bodies—one of a diversity of created bodies of the natural world—are the primary language with which we dialogue with the earth. By acknowledging that these varied bodies are always in relationship we reawaken our awareness of the quality of those relationships, considering where we may falter or harm, and also deepen our appreciation and recognition of our interdependence with the more-than-human world.’ ⁠ ⁠ Olafur's work ‘Now, here, nowhere’ forms part of the exhibition.⁠ ⁠ Image: 'Now, here, nowhere' 2023, Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Los Angeles

3 months ago

‘The playfulness that gives meaning to our activity includes uncertainty, but in this case the uncertainty is an openness to surprise. This is a particular metaphysical attitude that does not expect the world to be neatly packaged, ruly. Rules may fail to explain what we are doing. We are not self-important, we are not fixed in particular constructions of ourselves, which is part of saying that we are open to self-construction. We may not have rules, and when we do have rules, there are no rules that are to us sacred. We are not worried about competence. We are not wedded to a particular way of doing things. While playful we have not abandoned ourselves to, nor are we stuck in, any particular "world". We are there creatively. We are not passive. Playfulness is, in part, an openness to being a fool, which is a combination of not worrying about competence, not being self-important, not taking norms as sacred and finding ambiguity and double edges a source of wisdom and delight.’ - Maria Lugones, 'Playfulness, "World"-Travelling, and Loving Perception', 1987. ⁠ ⁠ Images: ‘ Din blinde passager’ , 2010. Tate Modern, London, 2019. Photo: Anders Sune Berg.⁠

At the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University, we run a series of experiments examining the idea of trust… Our assumption was that trust is something that can easily be eroded but is difficult to build up. We, therefore, conducted an experiment where people alternated between playing with computer agents, or bots, that were either quite willing to share or really unwilling to share, and with other people who had had similar experiences. This allowed us to create particular environments of high and low trust. Our assumption was that if one starts out in a scenario of high trust, one may be able to remain in that state. However, if one were so unlucky as to begin in an experiment under conditions of low trust, it would be very difficult to build it subsequently. In fact, this was not at all what we found. People appeared to be enormously responsive to the environment they were in, here and now. When they were playing with ‘trusting bots’, they would also display a high degree of trust. And if the bots showed a low degree of trust, then the participants also displayed a low degree of trust. Furthermore, when they interacted with other people, participants were actually rather unaffected by what had gone on in the previous round. Thus, the picture that emerged was that people seem very sensitive to the specific environment and rules of interaction that were applicable at a given time. This is potentially a very positive story – if it holds – because it appears that trust may breed trust, just as distrust breeds distrust.’ - Olafur interviewing Andreas Roepstorff, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, for the catalogue of the exhibition ‘In Real life’, Tate Modern, 2019. ⁠ ⁠ Image: ‘In real life’, 2019. Tate Modern, London, 2019. Photo: Anders Sune Berg.

In ' Your trust' , 2014, six panes of hand-blown, coloured glass have been arranged at eye-level inside an open metal box, one behind the other, to create an array of overlapping ellipses. Each pane has been tinted a single tone of green, blue, violet, red, orange, or yellow, and a different elliptical section, ranging from a thin oval to a full circle, has been cut out to create a dynamic progression of colour and geometry. The layering of the panes produces myriad tints that shift and emerge as the viewer moves about the work.⁠ ⁠ The elliptical cut-outs allow only highly restricted views of the sheets of glass within. Each pane is visible only through the filtering effect of the others, leaving the viewer uncertain about the actual colouration of the glass sheets (photo: Jens Ziehe).

‘Entering a museum is a way of stepping closer to society, to the realities that we live in. In a museum, you are able to see things in higher resolution. You become more focused, aware. Your senses become more alert; your body attuned; your mind open. What you encounter are most often artefacts or works of art. In my artistic practice I try to hand over the authority of deciding what is important in these encounters to the visitors. My artworks strive to embody transformation rather than stability and being.’ — Olafur's statement on ‘The curious desert’ at The National Museum of Qatar in 2023 .⁠ ⁠ Video: ‘OLAFUR ELIASSON, الصحراء تعانق الخيال, THE CURIOUS DESERT, 2023 ’, Tigerlily Productions for Studio Olafur Eliasson and Qatar Museums. Directed by Lana Daher; Produced by Natasha Dack Ojumu.

‘ Riverbed ’ fills the white space of the museum with a grey, rocky landscape through which a narrow stream meanders. The landscape, comprising stones of various size and shape and in a range of grey tones, slopes up gently from where visitors enter and the stream disappears. Visitors are free to choose their own path as they move up towards the source of the stream, where the water bubbles up mysteriously through the stones. The contrast between these entirely new pathways and the routes suggested by the museum’s architecture challenges visitors’ expectations and invites them to find innovative ways of navigating the space.⁠ ⁠ Video: Documentation of ‘Riverbed’, 2014 ; previously installed LouisianaMuseum  of Modern Art, Denmark, 2014.

Olafur Eliasson investigates how bodily and sensuous experiences lead to insights. Throughout his artistic production he has been concerned with how the physical world, nature’s fundamental elements, and basic phenomena such as light, darkness, and reflections can result in cognitive experience. In the installation Your watercolour machine a floodlight projector directs its beams onto a prism, causing the light to be dispersed into separate colours which are then reflected in mirrors and the water surface of a pool and then, finally, projected onto a vertical screen, or canvas, where the field of colours meets us as a picture. A motor tilts the pool at regular intervals, disturbing the surface of the water, which in turn distorts the colours on the canvas, causing corresponding wavy movements. In Eliasson’s work, the aesthetic experience arises as a response to a range of very concrete elements. The image on the classic, two-dimensional canvas arises out of basic physical phenomena, in the space occupied by the spectator. Eliasson’s installations create situations in which such new relationships between the work of art and the spectator can emerge.

video: Documentation of 'Your watercolour machine', 2009.

It is well known that nonhuman species perceive the world very differently than we humans do – through different sensoria, different embodiments, different ecological priorities. This understanding offers the chance to playfully imagine ‘what it is like’ to perceive the world as a nonhuman.⁠ ⁠ This collection of films is an attempt to fictionally inhabit an imagined nonhuman perspective of Olafur’s exhibition ‘ Life ’, held at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, in 2021. The movement of the camera is inspired by the way an amphibian may inhabit the exhibition, or how a bee may circle spaces as they navigate them. While we can never claim to truly know – let alone experience – what it is like to exist in the world as an other, we can still test the limits of our imagination through experiments and form, and in so doing perhaps even grow our capacity for interspecies compassion.⁠ ⁠ Video: 'More-than-human views of Life’, 2021 (film: Aviatics GmbH; music: Patricia Bondesson Kavanaugh).⁠

' Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows ' explores the ideas central to Olafur’s new public artwork, 'A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows', 2023. From the large light-and-water installation 'Your split second house',2010 to 'Firefly biosphere (falling magma star)', 2023, a geometric sculpture containing intricately refracted light, to new drawings powered by sunlight, wind, and other phenomena of nature, 'A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows' presents a selection of works that appeal to the senses and are supported by research into natural phenomena, geometry, physics, movement and patterns.⁠ ⁠ Images: 'Firefly biosphere (falling magma star), 2023;  currently showing as part of ' Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows ' at Azabudai Hills Gallery , Tokyo; Opens to the public until 31 March 2024 (photo: Shimei Nakatogawa).

On view from today, ' Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows ' opens to the public at Azabudai Hills Gallery, Tokyo, until 31 March 2024. ⁠ Part of the exhibition includes ' Your split second house ', which uses strobe lights to illuminate the moving trajectories of water droplets as they fall through a dark space with a ceiling height of 5 meters and a length of over 20 meters, is the recreation of a work originally exhibited in 2010 for this exhibition. This abstract act of drawing with water and light elicits an understanding of the beauty inherent in Olafur’s long-standing interest in geometry.⁠ ⁠ Video: ' Your split second house ', 2010; currently on view Azabudai Hills Gallery, as part of ' Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows '.

'Spherical space', 2015 contains two stainless steel frames, arranged one inside the other and connected at frequent, regular intervals, trace the geodesic lines of a latticework sphere. Affixed to the small connecting spans between the two frames are innumerable triangles of aluminium, hand-blown yellow glass, and colour-effect filter glass. A single bulb at the core of the sphere projects the dynamic pattern of shadows created by the triangles and framework onto the surrounding space.⁠ ⁠ Drawing inspiration from the mesmerising relationship between internal motion and external shape exhibited by schooling fish, the static surface of the work appears to be a flurry of movement. The geodesic lines of the sphere naturally draw the eye upwards in a whirlwind of tints and shapes, and even the slightest movement by the viewer alters the perceived alignment of spirals and triangles, creating the illusion of constant change. The viewer recognises her movements through the room in the motion she perceives in and on the sphere.⁠ ⁠ Video: 'How to turn a sphere' ; The SOE team moves ‘Spherical space’, 2015 , into position in the SOE studio.

Permanently installed in the atrium of an office building in Munich, two spiral staircases interlock with each other, creating a continuous loop in the form of a double helix. To plan the work, a double helix was projected onto the surface of a sphere. The heights of the steps vary slightly to compensate for the curvature of the staircases, growing shallower at the poles. Precise engineering was necessary to enable the structure to balance on one point. The continuous loop of 'Umschreibung' contrasts starkly with the office courtyard in Munich, where it is installed. 'Umschreibung' – which can be translated as ‘circumscription’ or ‘periphrasis’ – proposes a movement without a destination, a space defined by motion rather than walls.⁠ ⁠ Images: 'Umschreibung', 2004; permanently installed at KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft, Munich (photo: Thilo Frank).⁠

A four-metre-tall column of disparate geometric forms, ' Power tower ' was constructed as a stainless-steel framework, incorporating triangular panels of plywood and handblown, coloured glass in an intuitive, yet symmetric, manner. Light bulbs mounted at intervals along the length of the column illuminate it from within, casting variegated, angular shadows around the surrounding space. The geometric forms that make up the work were arrived at intuitively through playing with a children’s toy, known as Zometools, a construction set that consists of struts and nodes that allow great flexibility in creating geometric forms.⁠

While the panels of plywood indicate the faces of the polyhedrons, the panes of coloured glass are embedded within the structure, sketching out a multicoloured core. The tones progress from purple at the floor through the major colours of the visible spectrum – red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue at the apex.⁠ ⁠ Image: 'Power tower', 2005/2023 ; previously shown in 'The curious desert', in National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar , 2023 (photo: Anders Sune Berg).⁠

20 years ago, Olafur created 'The weather project' for the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. This site-specific installation employed a semi-circular screen, a ceiling of mirrors, and artificial mist to create the illusion of a sun. Aluminium frames lined with mirror foil were suspended from the ceiling to create a giant mirror that visually doubled the volume of the hall – along with the semi-circular screen mounted on the far wall, its long edge abutting the mirror ceiling. Backlit by approximately 200 mono-frequency lights, the semi-circle and its reflection created the image of a massive, indoor sunset seen through the artificial mist emitted into the room. By walking to the far end of the hall, visitors could see how the sun was constructed, and the reverse of the mirror structure was visible from the top floor of the museum (photo: Tate Photography (Andrew Dunkley & Marcus Leith)).

A powerful HMI projector stands on the floor of a room in front of a wave effect machine. The wave effect machine is equipped with one yellow and one blue colour filter. The projector throws light onto a convex mirror, which reflects the coloured light across the entire space. The light is refracted, so that it resembles reflections on water. The light reflections move slowly up and down, affecting the viewers’ sense of balance.⁠ ⁠ Documentation of ‘Die organische und kristalline Beschreibung’, 1996 ; previously shown at Neue Galerie Graz, Austria in 1996.

'Riverbed', 2014 , fills the white space of the museum with a grey, rocky landscape through which a narrow stream meanders. The landscape, comprising stones of various size and shape and in a range of grey tones, slopes up gently from where visitors enter, and the stream disappears. Visitors are free to choose their own path as they move up towards the source of the stream, where the water bubbles up mysteriously through the stones. The contrast between these entirely new pathways and the routes suggested by the museum’s architecture challenges visitors’ expectations and invites them to find innovative ways of navigating the space.

Behind the scenes with Olafur as he re-photographs the Icelandic glaciers that he first photographed twenty years ago, in 1999, for the making of 'The glacier melt series 1999/2019', 2019 . ⁠

Documentation of  'Your collective decision', 2017

'The moving museum', 2009, shows two pairs of hands draw spaces against a black backdrop. Filmed with finger-tutting experts, 'The moving museum' constructs a flexible building that is in constant motion. Evoking the coordinates of three-dimensional space, the videos run simultaneously on three screens, two of which are positioned at a right angle to one another on a purpose-built table, while the third is embedded directly in the tabletop.⁠