Olafur Eliasson's 'Life' installation blurs boundaries between architecture and nature

The fifth episode of the video series 'L'arte anticipa il futuro', promoted by School of Vision in collaboration with ENI and ROAD, focuses on Olafur Eliasson's installation 'Life' (2021) at Fondation Beyeler in Basel. The work removed part of the museum's glass facade, designed by Renzo Piano, allowing the external environment to enter the exhibition space. Water from an outdoor pond flows into the galleries, aquatic plants grow inside, and natural light constantly shifts spatial perception. Visitors traverse wooden walkways through a living ecosystem of water, vegetation, insects, odors, and changing atmospheric conditions. The installation challenges the idea of a building as a closed, controlled system, asking 'What are we willing to let in?' Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist born in 1967, works with light, water, air, temperature, color, and perception to create experiences linking body, space, and environment. The series comprises 14 episodes, each introduced by Marco Bassan, founder of Spazio Taverna and scientific director of School of Vision, analyzing works by international contemporary artists who anticipate future mobility, energy, cities, and sustainability.