Zagreb Solar System – The Planet Hunt
A space adventure in the middle of Zagreb? Entirely possible, through art. A very special Zagreb story began in 1994, when a replica of the Grounded Sun, a sculpture by artist Ivan Kožarić, was placed in Bogovićeva Street. A large bronze ball 2 metres in diameter became the symbol of the street, but also an inspiration to artist Davor Preis, who made an installation called Nine Views ten years later. Today, this installation is better known as Zagreb Solar System, simply because it consists of the nine planets in the Solar System (Pluto is included!) placed over the city. Their dimensions and distances are precisely calculated to be in scale with Kožarić's Sun as the centre. Of course, as in space, the planets are merely tiny marbles compared to the Sun, so in times before GPS and smartphones it was difficult to locate them all, scattered all over the city. While most of them are found in central Zagreb, to reach the distant planets one has to go far out in the suburbs, like Kozari bok or Podsused. In time, the Zagreb Solar System planet hunt became an attraction and an interesting, scientifically based pastime activity for curious explorers, both young and old.