Palace Ruin

2016

'Palace Ruin' is a reconstruction of a fragment of the former Paleis voor Volksvlijt, Amsterdam’s own Crystal Palace. Having gone up in flames in 1929, an archival photo shows a flank of the building amid a haze of smoke and debris, just after attempts to douse the fire. Beckett recreates this moment in the form of a large sculpture—part horror house, part memorial—which later functions as a stage for thematic concerts and an architectural lecture series.