Daniel Libeskind comments on climate change

While youth worldwide are currently demanding action to prevent further global warming with their school strikes Fridays for Future, a well-established artist has also drawn on the issue of climate change in his latest work. 

Star architect Daniel Libeskind has created four sculptures representing fragments of a globe and symbolizing different chemical compounds that are causing climate change. The approximately three-meter-high works were unveiled on Tuesday in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn in a ceremony attended by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

The four abstract sculptures make up the exhibition "The Garden of Earthly Worries," specifically designed for the palace gardens of the Het Loo Palace. The works of art are intended to depict the disturbed relationship between man and nature.

Contemporary art in the baroque gardens

Libeskind's works contrast with the orderly style of the 17th-century baroque garden, which represents nature as a paradise perfected by man. It is the first time that contemporary art is exhibited in the gardens of the Het Loo Palace.

The Polish-American architect's award-winning works often include symbolic references, a narrative formal style that has sometimes been criticized for being too overloaded with incomprehensible symbolism.

The main building of the Het Loo Palace is currently being renovated and will not reopen until mid 2021. The gardens, along with Libeskind's sculptures, can be visited in the meantime.

The Studio Daniel Libeskind, an international architecture practice based in New York, is renowned for designing museums and other cultural and public buildings. Among the most famous works are the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, the Jewish Museum in Berlin and designs for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York. The gallery below revisits some of Libeskind's most famous works.