Swarovski has unveiled a series of innovative new buildings and exhibits as part of a major expansion of its Kristallwelten ('Crystal World') in the picturesque village of Wattens, Austria, where the family-owned brand was established 120 years ago.
The revamped 7.5-hectare complex dedicated to all things crystal reflects the company's close collaboration over the past two decades with leading designers, ranging from John Pawson, Tom Dixon and Zaha Hadid to Naoto Fukasawa, Arik Levy and Ross Lovegrove.
The most striking new addition to the alpine setting is an intriguing multi-faceted, vertical tower with a glass façade designed by Oslo-based architecture firm Snøhetta. Inside is a series of play zones, with an enormous trampoline and a vertigo-inducing, 14-metre-high climbing net arranged over four floors. Meanwhile, 360-degree windows turn the space into what feels like an air playground, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
Snøhetta was also commissioned to create a new café and restaurant at the entrance to the complex. Their organic, low-slung pod of curvaceous concrete offers views over a contemporary landscaped garden, which features a custom-designed, 1,400-square-metre 'Crystal Cloud' installation by French and Vietnamese artists Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot. The silvery-grey clouds, "floating" above a mirrored pool, were hand-decorated with over 800,000 crystals in three different sizes.
Nearby, a bulging, mossy hillside sporting the unlikely visage of a smiling giant that doubles as a waterfall marks the entrance to Swarovski's newly expanded museum building. Among the five new creative exhibits is a standout new work by British creative duo Fredrikson Stallard. 'Eden' is a multi-sensory forest of simple brass structures and crystal sculptures symbolising exotic wildlife behind a digital waterfall. South Korean artist Lee Bull also plays with notions of modern utopian landscapes with 'Into Lattice Sun', building an elevated bridge that visitors use to traverse the artist's abstract crystalline world of sculptures. Elsewhere, the Studio Job 'Wunderkammer' playfully embraces pastiche, with a fairground-inspired spatial experience that alludes to the chaos of modern society, using a cabinet of curiosities as a starting point.
Inside the tower is a series of play zones, with an enormous trampoline and a vertigo-inducing, 14-metre-high climbing net arranged over four floors, part of which is pictured here
Snøhetta was also commissioned to create a new café and restaurant at the entrance to the complex
The curved concrete structure offers views over the Kristallwelten's landscaped gardens
Forming part of the garden is Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot's 'Crystal Cloud' installation
The silvery-grey clouds, "floating" above a mirrored pool, were hand-decorated with over 800,000 crystals in three different sizes
Nearby is a the unlikely visage of a smiling giant, which doubles as as a waterfall, marking the entrance to Swarovski's new expanded museum building
Among the five new exhibits is Fredrikson Stallard's forest of brass and crystal, entitled 'Eden'
Lee Bull's utopian landscape, 'Into Lattice Sun'
The Studio Job Wunderkammer - a fairground-inspired spatial experience
Inspired by the traditional cabinet of curiosities, the installation explores the chaos of modern society
ADDRESS
Kristallweltenstraße 1
6112 Wattens
Austria
-
A celestial New York exhibition showcases Roman and Williams’ mastery of lightingLauded design studio Roman and Williams is exhibiting 100 variations of its lighting ‘family tree’ inside a historic Tribeca space
-
‘He immortalised the birth of the supermodel’: inside Dior’s career-spanning retrospective of photographer Peter LindberghOlivier Flaviano, curator and head of Paris’ La Galerie Dior, talks us through a new Peter Lindbergh retrospective, which celebrates the seminal German photographer’s longtime relationship with the French house
-
Take a bite: Laila Gohar and The Luxury Collection’s ‘Cakes & Candles’ are a sweet treat for the sensesLaila Gohar’s six cake-inspired candles draw on The Luxury Collection’s hotels around the world – where guests can enjoy matching edible confections
-
Recycled glass tiles by Studio Plastique, Snøhetta and Fornace Brioni launch in MilanThe ‘Forite’ tile collection, which upcycles glass components from discarded fridges, ovens and microwaves, launches with an exhibition at Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022
-
Swarovski’s Designers of the Future explore artificial dreaming, crystal conversation and more -
Studio Job addresses the power of money in new Luxembourg installation -
Designers of the Future award winners announced in Milan -
Creative dispatches: highlights from Dubai Design Week 2017 -
Crystal palace: Swarovski adds dreamy new ‘chambers of wonder’ to its Austria HQ -
The Salon Art + Design New York: the Wallpaper* highlightsNow in its sixth year, The Salon Art + Design New York (9-13 November) brought an enticing mix of historic and contemporary furniture, art and decorative pieces back to the Park Avenue Armory this weekend. This year’s edition boasted over 50 galleries from 11 countries, of which 13 were showing for the very first time.
-
Grand gestures: Fredrikson Stallard’s latest work makes a bold statement
