cristina iglesias grows luminous northern lights dome from stockholm’s forest bedrock

A DOME EMERGES FROM THE FOREST

Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias unveils Aurora Borealis Star Dome, a site-specific sculpture rising from a rocky clearing in Stockholm’s Royal Djurgården. Installed at the highest point of the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park, the inhabitable structure is formed from cast aluminum, steel, and colored glass. Its branch-like surfaces appear to extend from the bedrock before unfolding into a geometric canopy that frames the sky and surrounding woodland.

Measuring 4.8 meters high and seven meters wide, the permanent installation invites visitors to walk beneath its dome, sit on the exposed stone, or lie down and observe the changing light overhead. Green and blue glass panels crown the structure, filtering daylight through tones inspired by the aurora borealis. As the sun moves above the trees, shifting reflections and shadows transform the interior into what Iglesias describes as an ‘intimate moment of stillness and wonder.’

NORTHERN LIGHTS FILTER THROUGH COLORED GLASS

The sculpture occupies a historic location known as the ‘hunting star,’ once a central meeting point within the royal hunting grounds during the 17th and 18th centuries. Paths and long sightlines previously radiated from the site through the forest, helping hunters navigate the landscape. Iglesias reinterprets this history by replacing exclusivity and observation with an open space intended for gathering, rest, and contemplation.

After being invited by the Princess Estelle Cultural Foundation to explore Royal Djurgården, the Madrid-based artist first visited Stockholm in January 2025. While walking through the extensive park, she encountered the natural rock formation and noticed the particular way sunlight passed between the trees. The resulting sculpture responds directly to this discovery, connecting the organic irregularity of the ground with a constructed cupola that appears suspended between architecture, landscape, and illusion.

AN INHABITABLE SANCTUARY FOR CONTEMPLATION

Rather than positioning the work as an object to be viewed from a distance, Iglesias conceives it as a place that visitors must enter and inhabit. The cast surfaces evoke tangled vegetation, roots, and geological formations, while the upper framework gradually becomes more ordered and architectural. This transition between organic and artificial forms continues the artist’s ongoing exploration of thresholds, hidden spaces, and the presence of nature within built environments.

Inaugurated on June 2, 2026, Aurora Borealis Star Dome becomes the seventh permanent artwork commissioned for the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park. Iglesias describes the installation as ‘a sanctuary’ and an invitation to connect with the cosmos. Open throughout the year, the work turns a walk through the Stockholm forest into a journey of discovery, creating a quiet interior where colored light, weather, time, and the movements of visitors continually reshape the experience.

project info:

name: Aurora Borealis Star Dome
artist: Cristina Iglesias | @cristinaiglesiasestudio
location: Princess Estelle Sculpture Park, Royal Djurgården, Stockholm, Sweden
year: 2026
materials: aluminum, steel, and colored glass
photography: Örjan Furberg | Jytte Lindberg

The post cristina iglesias grows luminous northern lights dome from stockholm’s forest bedrock appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.