Oxford has become home to world-renowned Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s first permanent public artwork in the UK.
Commissioned for Oxford North, the city’s new £1.2 billion innovation district, Your planetary assembly was unveiled this week at the opening of Fallaize Park, a two-acre green space at the heart of the development.
The striking installation features eight illuminated planetary sculptures, inspired by orreries and models of the solar system. Each sculpture contains a geometric glass polyhedron, positioned along a meandering path through the park.
From dusk, the polyhedra glow in colours taken from telescopic images of planets, providing both a point of orientation and a place for visitors to gather.
Eliasson, celebrated globally for immersive installations that explore perception, community and the environment, said:
“Your planetary assembly at Oxford North is an invitation to co-create space, to experience your surroundings as part of a larger negotiation of self, community and the world… It is, I hope, a peaceful oasis that emerges from the greenery of the park, spreading out like a cluster of stars or a cloud of gas in outer space.”
The artwork draws on Eliasson’s longstanding interest in public space and follows iconic UK projects such as The weather project at Tate Modern (2003), which attracted more than two million visitors.
Fallaize Park, named in honour of Professor Elizabeth Fallaize (1950–2009), the first female fellow of St John’s College and a pro-vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, sits beside Oxford North’s new Red Hall and its first phase of laboratory and office spaces.
Oxford North’s public art programme has been shaped through extensive community collaboration, including a Public Art Steering Group with residents, students, and cultural partners such as Modern Art Oxford and IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival.
Simon Ruck, Managing Director of Oxford North, said:
“Inspirational public realm is central to Oxford North’s vision, and Olafur Eliasson’s world-class installation will offer captivating cultural moments for people who visit, work and live in this new global innovation district.”
Eliasson’s Your planetary assembly is the first in a series of cultural projects planned for Oxford North, which aims to position itself as a hub for scientific innovation and inclusive, world-class public art.
