Argentine Tomás Saraceno's 'Cloud City' Debuts at the Met 1

(Photo: Samantha Chang/TheImproper)

Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno makes his U.S. debut with the unveiling of his striking jumble of interconnecting modules called Cloud City, which is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The 54-foot structure, which incorporates steel, glass, acrylic and mirrors, creates a halting silhouette against the backdrop of the elegant Manhattan skyline. The 20-ton sculpture is currently on exhibit on the roof of the Met until November, by which time museum officials expect that over a half-million people will see it.

In describing Cloud City, Saraceno, an architect by training, says he wanted to present his vision of a utopian environment come to life. Visitors can enter and walk through the habitat-like, modular structures grouped in a nonlinear configuration that Saraceno described as “an international space station.”

The piece, which is anchored by a network of steel cables, is Saraceno’s vision of floating cities.

“You can have a feeling of weightlessness that’s a bit disorienting,” he says. “Cloud City is a vehicle for our imagination, ready to transport us beyond social, political and geographical states of mind.”

The installation will be on view at the Met through November 4.