The Ophelia Kaan 2025 install was not a single work but a family of site-specific implementations, each running for exactly 72 hours before being physically destroyed. The most documented version occurred in a decommissioned water treatment plant outside Berlin in September 2025.
Unlike traditional pop-up exhibitions or static sculptures, the 2025 install is a "living intervention" located in the abandoned cooling towers of the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. The project spans 10,000 square feet and is best described as a hydro-kinetic terrarium. ophelia kaan 2025 install
Kaan has taken the decommissioned industrial complex and is retrofitting it to house a climate-controlled rainforest microclimate. However, the "install" refers specifically to her patented Mycelium Mesh Network—a series of load-bearing columns grown from fungi and recycled brick aggregate rather than manufactured steel. The Ophelia Kaan 2025 install was not a
Key specifications of the install:
What made the Ophelia Kaan 2025 install a landmark in art-engineering was its refusal of digital permanence. Most “immersive” shows use projections, VR headsets, and resolvable loops. Kaan’s team used the following: In an October 2025 interview with Artforum ,
In an October 2025 interview with Artforum, Kaan explained:
“We are drowning in saved things. Saved photos, saved passwords, saved grief. The 2025 install asks: what if an artwork loved you enough to die after you left?”