A Visit to the Amazing House of Mirrors Gstaad in Summer

Le Mirage by Doug Aitken

The mirrored Mirage Gstaad, built by American artist Doug Aitken, reflects the Alps’ ever-changing topography.

The reflected pavilion, which was formerly situated in the desert close to Palm Springs, is now situated in an

Alpine meadow above the Swiss resort town of Gstaad.

People can approach and even enter Mirage Gstaad, whose mirrored walls surround windows and skylights,

as they come across it.

“I viewed Mirage as a human-scale lens that the viewer would step through, and in the process, they would become

the piece,” stated Aitken

A kaleidoscopic effect is created by the mirrors on the walls.
The mirrors that cover Mirage House reflect the changing landscape and sky as the seasons change around it.

The rooftop reflects the blue skies in the summer, and the sides appear to blend in with the meadows.

Mirage appears to be a part of nature from certain angles, while from others, kaleidoscopic juxtapositions occur

when the underside of the eaves reflect wildflowers and grass right next to the scudding clouds of the gables.

How To Get To Le Mirage

You can visit Le Mirage for the day, and it takes about 3 hours to get to Gstaad from Zurich. You could drive

to Schönried (or Gstaad and then take the train, which takes 9 minutes, or the 180 bus, which takes 17 minutes),

but you can also take the train all the way with a short walk at the end. When taking the train, you can either

go to Schönried railway station (please note that these are request stops, so you must ring the bell) and then

take the path down towards Le Mirage, or you can go to Gruben and walk up. The map is shown below.

Where:  See map below. Located between Schönried station and Gruben station in Gstaad

Open: Now extended until 5th April 2021

Entrance: FREE

source:  newinzurich.com

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