Wounded star, Steel sculpture at Platja de Sant Miquel, Barcelona, Spain
The Wounded Star is a steel sculpture on Sant Miquel beach made from four twisted cubes stacked vertically. The structure rises roughly 10 meters tall and combines steel with glass sections that create shifting light effects depending on the time of day.
Rebecca Horn created this steel work in 1992 as part of Barcelona's coastal renewal project before the Olympic Games. The piece emerged during a period when the city was fundamentally reshaping its beaches and public spaces.
The structure represents the former beach bars and seafood stalls that lined the Barceloneta waterfront before the neighborhood's transformation.
You can reach the sculpture by taking metro line 4 to Barceloneta station and then walking along the beachfront promenade. The artwork sits directly on the sand and is easy to access while exploring the waterfront area.
The large window-like openings in the steel boxes recall the facade of an abandoned residential building standing on the beach. This unexpected resemblance gives the work a mysterious quality that often surprises visitors on first glance.
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