Fog artist Fujiko Nakaya enshrouds Mies van der Rohe's Berlin garden in a misty, ever-changing sculpture

Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya has unveiled a site-specific fog installation at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, filling the museum's 90-meter-long sculpture garden with slowly moving clouds of pure water mist, designboom reported. The installation, which runs through October 25, 2026, transforms the space into an ever-changing landscape shaped by wind, humidity, and the movement of visitors.

designboomfujiko nakaya turns mies van der rohe’s berlin sculpture garden into a landscape of fog

Nakaya's fog interacts with the existing elements of the garden, including trees, sculptures, and Mies van der Rohe's iconic modernist architecture. According to designboom, the artist has been working with fog as an artistic medium since developing her first fog sculpture decades ago, making this installation a continuation of her long-standing exploration of ephemeral, natural forms.

The piece dynamically responds to its environment, with the mist shifting and swirling as conditions change and as people walk through. This creates a unique experience that evolves throughout the day, blending art, weather, and human presence into a single, fleeting composition.

By enshrouding the stark modernist lines of the Neue Nationalgalerie's outdoor space in soft vapor, Nakaya's work offers a temporary contrast to the rigid geometry of the architecture. The installation invites visitors to reconsider the relationship between built form and natural processes, turning a static garden into a living, breathing artwork.