Studio Olafur Eliasson was founded in 1995 by Danish-Icelandic artist
Olafur Eliasson
Olafur Eliasson (; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience.
In 1995, ...
. Based in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, the studio currently comprises about 90 people, from architects, craftsmen, and specialised technicians, to art historians and archivists. Working closely with the artist, the studio team engages in experiments; develops, designs, and produces artworks, exhibitions, and architectural projects; and communicates and contextualises Eliasson's work. Further architectural projects include the ''
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
Pavilion 2007'', London, with Kjetil Thorsen; ''Your rainbow panorama'', for
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
ARoS is an art museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS opened with exhibitions in a brand new modern building, 10 stories tall with a to ...
Henning Larsen Architects
Henning Larsen Architects is an international architectural firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1959 by Henning Larsen, it has around 750 employees.
In 2008, it opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and in 2011, an office in Munich ...
and Batteríid architects, received the
Mies van der Rohe Award
The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award is a prize given biennially by the European Union and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona,College of Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). The school is run by Olafur Eliasson together with Eric Ellingsen and Christina Werner, and runs for five years until Spring 2014. The institute is housed within the studio building, and plays an integral part within the dynamic of the studio's creative activities:
:"The practice I have developed makes me believe in my works and studio as agents in the world. And just as my works and studio participate in a continual exchange with their environment, with the times in which they exist, so too does the school." - Olafur Eliasson.
The program of the Institut für Raumexperimente - including lectures, workshops and experiments - is a part of the curriculum of the professor's class. A full archive of past events is available on the website.
Take Your Time publication series
An in-house production, TYT (Take Your Time) presents current research and projects by Olafur Eliasson and the studio in the format of an intermittently recurring magazine, with an emphasis on the process of developing and testing ideas and artworks. First published in 2007, Studio Olafur Eliasson has published three volumes to date, all available as PDF download in addition to physical publication:
*Studio Olafur Eliasson, eds., ''TYT (Take Your Time) Vol. 1: Small Spatial Experiments'', Berlin: Studio Olafur Eliasson, 2007.
*Studio Olafur Eliasson, eds., ''TYT (Take Your Time) Vol. 2: Printed Matter'', Berlin: Studio Olafur Eliasson; Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2009.
* Studio Olafur Eliasson, eds., ''TYT (Take Your Time) Vol. 3: Driftwood'', Berlin: Studio Olafur Eliasson, 2010.
Life is Space
Almost annually since 2006, Studio Olafur Eliasson has hosted a get-together called Life is space (formerly Life in space). Loosely scheduled as a day-long event largely left to intuition and chance, Life is space brings together scientists, artists, scholars, dancers, theorists, spatial practitioners, and movement experts, together with the Institut für Raumexperimente participants and the studio team to share, discuss, present, and experiment.
Although typically hosted within Studio Olafur Eliasson Berlin, iterations of Life is Space have occurred in conjunction with exhibitions by Olafur Eliasson and affiliated institutions. In 2008, in conjunction with ''Take your time'', the first comprehensive survey of Olafur Eliasson's work at
MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, a symposium entitled ''The Colors of the Brain'' took place that brought together a number of experts within the fields of
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
,
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, and
art
Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
to review and critique contemporary cultural theories of color that have emerged from artistic and scientific practices. The symposium was divided over three days. Each day was hosted at a different location (
MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and Studio Olafur Eliasson respectfully), culminating in the third iteration of Life is Space at Studio Olafur Eliasson, Berlin.
A number of subsequent publications and videos have resulted from the various iterations of Life is space, which can be viewed on the Studio Olafur Eliasson website.