Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s first permanent public UK work unveiled in Oxford

World-renowned artist Olafur Eliasson’s first permanent public artwork in the UK has been unveiled at Oxford North, as the city’s new flagship innovation district is officially launched. Your planetary assembly is a major public art installation of eight illuminated planetary sculptures set within Fallaize Park, a new two-acre public park, inspired by models of the solar system and reminiscent of the orreries at the University of Oxford’s History of Science Museum.

Celebrated internationally for art installations that challenge the way we perceive and interact with our environments, Eliasson’s previous projects in the UK include The weather project, 2003, which drew two million people to Tate Modern; Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, 2007; and more recently Lifeworld, 2024, displayed on Piccadilly Circus’ screens with CIRCA.

Created with the support of Contemporary Art Society *Consultancy (CAS*C), Your planetary assembly weaves throughout Fallaize Park, which is part of the one million sq ft (92,903 sq m) new district. The completed first phase of Oxford North – including Fallaize Park – is now open and includes nearly 160,000 sq ft of flexible laboratory and office space alongside the Red Hall, a distinctive four-storey centrepiece designed by Fletcher Priest Architects, featuring workspaces, retail units and soon to be opening 80-seat café.

Situated next to the Red Hall, Fallaize Park is 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. Within the park, Eliasson’s debut permanent public work in the UK comprises eight individual sculptures, each featuring a striking glass polyhedron.

Winding along a path that cuts through Fallaize Park’s green landscape, the artwork will offer visitors a point of orientation. From dusk, the polyhedrons will be illuminated in colours inspired by the dominant tones in telescopic imagery of the planets, with each sculpture providing a space for visitors and passers-by to congregate.

Olafur Eliasson 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. The eight glass polyhedrons spread across Fallaize Park invite you to gather, talk, spend time, and share space with one another. Situated in a neighbourhood that includes residential, educational, and scientific facilities, the artwork welcomes visitors from early morning until late at night.

“The arrangement of the forms along the park’s meandering path was inspired by models of the solar system. The colours come from the major tones of telescopic images of the planets, from Mercury to Mars to Neptune. Illuminated, these forms function as points of orientation to help guide you through the park. Knowing that Mars is behind you, for example, tells you that Earth lies ahead.

“This work is open to your interpretation: you may see the polyhedra as elements, molecules or crystals. Your planetary assembly is a public space for everyone: visitors and workers from the nearby labs and offices as well as members of the surrounding community. 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.

“Sitting within this local space, you simultaneously inhabit a larger continuum, a meeting point of trajectories that reflects both community and the vastness of the cosmos. As the solar system travels through space, we too are always in motion, meeting one another at a specific time and place, each on our own trajectories.”

This first public art project for Oxford North is part of its ‘Engage’ legacy programme, delivered in partnership with IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival, CAS *Consultancy, Modern Art Oxford, Creation Theatre and Fusion Arts.

Oxford North’s ambition for collaboration, local engagement and transparent governance led to the creation of a Public Art Steering Group in 2023. This advisory group – comprising local residents; local sixth form students; Oxford City Council; Modern Art Oxford; IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival; masterplan architect Fletcher Priest Architects; and landscape architect Gustafson Porter + Bowman – recommended Olafur Eliasson for this 2025 commission.

Eliasson’s commission is part of the Oxford North cultural scheme, developed by CAS to support Oxford North’s goal of becoming a world-class research and innovation district for the UK and Europe.

Oxford North is being delivered by Oxford North Ventures, the joint venture between St John’s College through its development company Thomas White Oxford; Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a leading global investor; and leading UK development and asset manager Stanhope.

Victoria Collett, development director, Thomas White Oxford and chair of the public art steering group, said:“This project has been an exceptional collaboration, kick-started by the breathtaking artwork of Olafur Eliasson. It marks the beginning of a long-term journey enriched by diverse community initiatives and a legacy programme that will unfold over many years. By partnering with fantastic local organisations such as IF Oxford, Modern Art Oxford and Creation Theatre, along with local residents and students to develop the Engage programme, we are ensuring the artwork remains significant for decades to come.”

Simon Ruck, managing director, Oxford North, said: “Inspirational public realm is central to Oxford North’s vision, and Olafur Eliasson’s new world-class public art installation will offer captivating cultural moments for people who visit, work and live in this new global innovation district.

“We’re truly honoured to have commissioned Olafur’s debut public permanent work in the UK. Olafur and his team are boundary-pushing creative visionaries, and his magnificent cosmic sculptures will illuminate Fallaize Park, an important new public green space for Oxford. Your planetary assembly elegantly embodies Oxford North’s broader cultural ambition, which aims to create bold and thought-provoking art interventions that are genuinely inclusive and open to everyone.”

Jordan Kaplan, senior art producer, CAS *Consultancy, added: “Working with such an internationally significant artist as Olafur Eliasson reinforces Oxford North’s character as a new place for groundbreaking work in science, health, wellbeing and imagination. Studio Olafur Eliasson’s world-class diverse, interdisciplinary team parallels the collaborative spirit of the scientists, technologists, and innovators Oxford North aims to attract. We will continue to work with Oxford North to shape an outstanding, abundant and varied public art offer across future development phases – from permanent and temporary public art installations to performances, exhibitions, films, publications and conferences.”

An ‘In conversation with Olafur Eliasson’ public event was hosted at Oxford North on Wednesday 1 October with Behaviour Change Scientist & Poet Laureate, University College, Oxford Pireeni Sundaralingam to celebrate the artwork which circa 150 people attended.

Creation Theatre performed a walking theatre piece with a guided journey through the Solar System at the launch event last night, which will be shared as part of the IF Oxford Science & Ideas Festival being held at Oxford North on Friday 24 October 2025 as part of Zone One, a hands-on family-friendly interactive area where people will be invited to take part in experiments and demonstrations, meeting friendly experts and experiencing Your planetary assembly.