The Newly Reopened Swarovski Museum is Nothing Short of Dazzling

Architects of global renown created a park landscape with unique art installations and new attractions as part of Crystal World’s renoation. Still, the iconic centerpiece is the Giant, created by André Heller. A life-size sculpture covered in grass, it houses the Chambers of Wonder within.

The Leviathan sculpture, by Tyrolean artist Thomas Feuerstein, references the Biblical sea monster and is made with more than 10,000 crystals. It’s integrated into Fabrizio Plessi’s Crystal Forest installation.

The crowning piece of the new expansion is the Crystal Cloud, designed by the American-French duo CAO PERROT (Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot).

Crystal Cloud, an extensive masterpiece, comprises 800,000 hand-mounted Swarovski crystals floating above a black Mirror Pool.

Tord Boontje and Alexander McQueen created this spectacular crystal tree, dubbed “Silent Light.” One of the most photographed objects in the museum, it’s made of 150,000 crystals, and inspired Boontje to surround it with an entire winter landscape—another new feature.

Modeled after Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome, the Crystal Dome uses 595 mirrors to give the viewer the feeling of being inside a crystal. Brian Eno created the music that plays in the Crystal Dome.

The Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta designed Daniels. Café & Restaurant, the dazzling eatery that’s been added to the museum.

Named after the founder of Swarovski, Daniels. Café & Restaurant serves regional, seasonal cuisine and sits directly in the garden of the Giant.

Korean artist Lee Bul created Into Lattice Sun, a dramatic and utopian landscape in the Chambers of Wonder that stages an interplay of mirrors and crystal.

In the museum’s shop, conceived by s_o_s architekten, a dome called the Starry Mosaic Sky, set with black mosaic tiles hand-crafted by Bisazza mixed with Swarovski crystals, covers a river-like winding path.

British musician and concept artist Brian Eno created 55 Million Crystals, which incorporates ambient music, light, hand-painted pictures, and computer technology to produce a trance effect for visitors.

Inside the Blue Hall, which houses works by the likes of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí, the centerpiece is the Centenar that, at more than 310,000 carats, is the largest hand-cut crystal in the world.