Pilar Zeta Brings Her Surreal Architectural Aesthetic From Miami to Paris

It rises like a temple on the sands of Miami Beach, a mysterious structure of columns and arches that appears at once ancient and futuristic, dark gray and subtly iridescent. The Observer Effect is the work of Argentinian artist Pilar Zeta (b. 1986), who envisions the piece as an otherworldly portal where the earth meets the sea, the seemingly endless ocean suggesting the possibility of alternate realities.

“You have nature, and then you have the craziness of Miami, and then the portal in the center,” Zeta told me.

It’s an exciting moment for the self-taught artist, who just announced the follow-up to the piece, which will open next month in the Place du Louvre in Paris. She’s come a long way since moving to Miami at age 19. Without legal status the first five years, Zeta started working at a printing company, eventually becoming a graphic designer. That led her into art direction and making album art for famous musicians such as Coldplay. (One of her cover designs for the band was even nominated for a Grammy.)

But during the pandemic, Zeta began focusing on her own artistic vision, creating images of slightly surreal structures inspired by sacred geometry and architecture. Her style features clean lines and simple shapes, so sleek and smooth that they almost look rendered—”It’s because that’s where my work comes from!” the artist explained.

Architectural Influence Across the Centuries

Zeta’s first public project was three years ago during Art Basel with Hall of Visions, an Art Deco-inspired installation commissioned for Faena Art. The piece gave her the opportunity to finally realize one of her digital illustrations in real life.

“I had no idea what I was doing with my first monumental fabrication. It’s an evolution of fine-tuning to where I am now,” Zeta recalled.

Now she’s back with an official Art Basel Miami Beach public artwork, outside the newly renovated Shelborne Hotel. The colonnade has a mirage-like effect, almost shimmering against the horizon. The finish of the matte surface, achieved through the use of a special automotive paint that Zeta spent months testing, seems to change throughout the day with the light and weather. (She’s thinking about the observer effect principle of quantum physics, and how perception effects what is being observed.)

Zeta activated The Observer Effect with sunrise and sunset performances by the musician Laraaji (b. 1943), who created a moving soundscape meditation that kept the crowd utterly entranced, including one rapt dog. The handsome canine sat, unleashed, for the duration of the piece.

“I’m rapporting with infinite space,” Laraaji told me, describing his improvised performance as a tone poem. He is preparing to unveil a new sound piece inspired by Hildegard of Bingen and featuring Brian Eno, Patti Smith, and Jim Jarmusch during next year’s Venice Biennale, in a garden in a monastery in the Italian city.

“I’m very into ambient music, and Laraaji is just a legend,” Zeta said, “Having him in my piece, and the people just enjoying it, I felt like I just transcended.”

But Zeta is becoming used to such amazing moments. In 2023, she installed a public artwork at the foot of the Pyramids of Giza, using limestone and lapis lazuli to build her own monument, , at the historic site. The piece, a triumphal arch topped with a small pyramidal capstone, was part of the third edition of the “Forever is Now” public art show from Art D’Égypte. But though it was a huge project for Zeta, she was humbled to see how her work was dwarfed by the pyramids, which have towered over the desert sands for millennia.

Now, Zeta is preparing for the sequel, , at the Louvre, which is another site that carries great weight, as a repository for art history. The project is curated by Stéphane Ruffier-Meray. The marble is sourced from Marmonil, one of Egypt’s oldest quarries—it will include alabaster, red granite, and a green marble known as Breccia Fawakir. The work will be placed outside, at the entrance to the Louvre museum’s Egyptian wing, perfectly aligned with the famed glass pyramids by I.M. Pei (1917–2019) in the main courtyard.

“I’m very into ancient temples,” Zeta said. “I like to take the ancient Greek and Egyptian and mix it with modernism.”