Located at the harbour of Kruunuvuorenranta, where the public waterfront intersects with the park, this site-specific artwork marks the sun’s path through the sky above the city of Helsinki on the summer solstice. Twenty-four poles, embedded directly into the bedrock, form an open, spacious ring that extends from the land into the water. The heights of the poles were determined by tracking the path of the sun as it appears from the site on 21 June, the longest day of sunlight during the year. The shortest pole, which indicates the lowest point of the sun on the solstice, is situated at the north side of the circle, while the tallest, reflecting the location of the sun at its zenith, is in the south. Viewers can use the work as a kind of compass to orient themselves in their surroundings and in relation to planet earth.
Lanterns shine out of the poles through diamond-shaped apertures that become increasingly open towards the tops, where they culminate in single points of bright light. Together these points of light produce an angled ring that matches the sun’s path. For residents of Kruunuvuorenranta, the artwork is a softly glowing beacon within an attractive waterfront park. As the bright lights at the tops of the poles are oriented towards central Helsinki, to the west, the artwork appears in the city like a lighthouse shining across the dark water. People approaching from the bridge glimpse the lights foreshortened into changing ellipses, while from particular angles they may appear as a single luminescent ring hovering in the distance.
Artwork details | |
Title |
Long daylight pavilion |
Year |
2025 |
Materials |
Stainless steel, glass, acrylic glass, LED lights |