{"id":16628,"date":"2026-02-17T20:31:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16628\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:31:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:31:31","slug":"olafur-eliasson-brings-celestial-long-daylight-pavilion-to-helsinki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16628\/","title":{"rendered":"olafur eliasson brings celestial ‘long daylight pavilion’ to helsinki"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olafur Eliasson\u2019s Long Daylight Pavilion Opens in Helsinki<\/p>\n

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Long daylight pavilion, a new permanent public artwork<\/a> by Olafur Eliasson<\/a> has been unveiled along the rocky waterfront of eastern Helsinki<\/a>\u2018s Kruunuvuorenranta district. The site-specific installation functions as both an architectural intervention and a celestial marker, aligning precisely with the arc of the sun on the summer solstice.<\/p>\n

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Located at the edge of Wiirinkallio, the work marks a significant moment for the city\u2019s commitment to public art, and for Eliasson, whose practice frequently engages with light<\/a>, geometry, and human perception. The project is part of the City of Helsinki and HAM Helsinki Art Museum\u2019s ongoing efforts to integrate contemporary art into the urban fabric. The unveiling of the Long daylight pavilion coincides with the opening of Helsinki Biennial, where another work by Olafur Eliasson, Viewing machine, will be on view on nearby Vallisaari Island.<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson, Long daylight pavilion, 2025, installation view: Kruunuvuorenranta, Helsinki, Finland. photo: HAM \/ Maija Toivanen. commissioned by: City of Helsinki<\/p>\n

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Spatial Orientation and Material Precision<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson\u2019s Long daylight pavilion is made up of twenty-four steel poles. This circular array emerges from the exposed bedrock and stretches outward in a ring, partially extending over the water. The arrangement is carefully calibrated by the artist<\/a> so that each pole corresponds to a moment in the sun\u2019s path on June 21st, the longest day of the year in Finland. Their varying heights allow the viewer to read the solstice\u2019s geometry through the structure itself. The lowest point, located to the north, and the highest, oriented southward, trace the arc of daylight as it would be experienced from this particular site.<\/p>\n

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Embedded directly into the granite shoreline, the poles appear grounded and deliberate. As the sun shifts overhead, shadows travel across the circular formation, introducing a quiet sense of movement. Though fixed, the work invites a sense of temporal awareness, linking visitors to the rhythm of the Earth\u2019s rotation. The pavilion\u2019s opening during the June 8th start to the Helsinki Biennial<\/a> means that it will be on view in time for this month\u2019s upcoming solstice.<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson, Long daylight pavilion, 2025, installation view: Kruunuvuorenranta, Helsinki, Finland. photo: HAM \/ Maija Toivanen. commissioned by: City of Helsinki<\/p>\n

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Light as a Tool for Navigation<\/p>\n

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While the Long daylight pavilion is tied to a specific moment in the year, it is designed by Olafur Eliasson to transform across time and conditions. After dark, integrated lanterns emit a constellation of light through diamond-shaped openings near the top of each pole. These apertures widen incrementally, culminating in concentrated beams that form a luminous, angled ring.<\/p>\n

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Seen from a distance, especially from the direction of Central Helsinki, the pavilion presents as a beacon. Its visual orientation toward the city allows it to act as a marker on the horizon. \u2018I hope that it will rapidly become an attractive destination for residents of the neighbourhood, connecting them to the world by gesturing to the path of the sun at this location,\u2019 says Olafur Eliasson. \u2018And for those viewing it from the city as a bright light across the water, I hope that it offers a point of orientation on their horizon.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson, Long daylight pavilion, 2025, installation view: Kruunuvuorenranta, Helsinki, Finland. photo: HAM \/ Maija Toivanen. commissioned by: City of Helsinki<\/p>\n

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\u2018viewing machine\u2019 arrives to Vallisaari Island<\/p>\n

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Also installed for the Helsinki Biennial, Viewing Machine (2001) invites visitors to engage with Vallisaari Island through a faceted lens. The hexagonal structure operates like a functional kaleidoscope, with angled mirrors that fragment and reflect whatever lies in view. Unlike Long daylight pavilion, which anchors perception in celestial alignment, Viewing Machine offers a shifting, participant-driven perspective. By rotating the device and selecting their own vantage point, viewers experience a layered visual field shaped by both the geometry of the object and the motion of their gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson at the Long daylight pavilion inauguration | image courtesy Embassy of Iceland in Helsinki<\/p>\n

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Kruunuvuorenranta is being shaped into Helsinki\u2019s district of light art, and the addition of Long daylight pavilion establishes a focal point along the shoreline. The installation complements the area\u2019s transformation from former oil depot into a residential zone with a growing network of cultural interventions.<\/p>\n

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Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure, Paavo Arhinm\u00e4ki, describes a personal connection to the piece: \u2018I\u2019ve been watching the work take shape by the shore during my morning commute and have already gone to admire it after dark.\u2019 His remarks reinforce the idea that Eliasson\u2019s work is intended to function not only as public art but as an accessible and monumental part of daily life.<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson, Viewing Machine, 2001\/2003, image courtesy Studio Olafur Eliasson<\/p>\n

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Olafur Eliasson, Viewing Machine, 2001\/2003, image courtesy Studio Olafur Eliasson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olafur Eliasson\u2019s Long Daylight Pavilion Opens in Helsinki \u00a0 Long daylight pavilion, a new permanent public artwork by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[12029,158,113,12030,12031,10996],"class_list":["post-16628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-architecture-in-finland","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-light-installation-art","tag-olafur-eliasson","tag-public-art"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}