Olaf Nicolai’s Labyrinth has been located in the GfZK garden since 1998. The social sculpture, one of the most iconic artworks in Leipzig, is particularly popular with children. The Labyrinth explores the area of tension between authenticity and artificiality and consists of industrially produced plastic brooms of the kind used by the Parisian city cleaning service.
Through constant exposure to UV rays and the elements, its components had become brittle. Between 2023 and 2024, together with the artist, designers and material designers, we conducted research to develop a sustainable version of the artwork that remains faithful to the original artistic concept. The Rotterdam design studio The New Raw and the Kunstsstoffzentrum Leipzig took samples of the material and conducted a thorough analysis. In collaboration with the French manufacturer of the brooms, a solution was found.
Especially for the Leipzig Labyrinth, a UV-resistant additive is blended with the polypropylene used to produce the brooms, increasing the artwork’s durability. It was re-opened in spring 2025. The New Raw repurposed the material from the version removed in autumn 2024 and created new outdoor seating for the GfZK.
The New Raw is a Rotterdam-based research and design studio. Founded in 2015 by the architects Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki, the studio has developed a growing body of work that advocates the sustainable reuse of plastics. It works with new digital craft techniques to extend the life of discarded materials, focussing on objects made from plastic waste and recycled material.