The Newly Reopened Swarovski Museum is Nothing Short of Dazzling

By Corina Quinn
July 09, 2015
Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten
In celebration of its 120th anniversary, Swarovski recently reopened Crystal Worlds (Kristallwelten), its hybrid museum and cultural attraction in Austria, with an extensive expansion. In addition to more than doubling its surface area, there are several new art installations, a family-friendly play tower, and a dazzling high-design restaurant.

Swarovski, founded in Tyrol where the museum is located, is the crystal manufacturer that brought you Dorothy’s ruby-encrusted slippers in The Wizard of Oz and the 550-pound ornament that tops the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City. It’s long been linked to the design and fashion worlds, a relationship it drew upon when creating the Swarovski Kristallwelten museum.  

It reached out to globally recognized artists and architects (André Heller, Alexander McQueen, Tord Boontje and Brian Eno among them) to create the various works and experiences that draw more than half a million visitors annually. Now, after a $38 million investment, there’s a restaurant by Snøhetta, who also designed the play tower, an installation called Crystal Cloud by Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot, and much more.

Previous standing exhibits have been updated, and all features are open and accepting visitors; tickets can be purchased ($21) online.

Corina Quinn is the digital travel editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: David Schreyer

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

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Walter Oczlon

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: David Schreyer

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

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: David Schreyer

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

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kritallwelten

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Joachim Haslinger

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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.

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Austria: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Credit: Courtesy Swarovski Kristallwelten

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.

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By Corina Quinn