El meu univers

El meu univers is a totem-like sculpture by Andorran artist Judit Gaset Flinch, located at Plaça la Rotonda in the centre of Andorra la Vella. The work was created in 1999 for the 50th anniversary of Crèdit Andorrà and has become one of the artist’s best-known public sculptures. Its vertical composition is built from stacked forms, creating a human-scaled landmark amid the open urban space beside the Valira river and the capital’s tourist office. The Catalan title means “My Universe,” a fitting name for a work that gathers the artist’s recurring interest in personal worlds, memory and symbolic form.

Gaset’s totems developed from earlier figurative work and became a defining part of her sculptural language. Museum and exhibition material describes her movement from forms based on people and relationships toward larger structures made from superimposed cubes. These layered elements suggest a constructed universe, with each block contributing to a vertical whole. El meu univers is a public example of that evolution: it is abstract enough to invite different readings, while its stacked, body-like forms retain an expressive presence. Viewers may notice the surfaces and the rhythm of the forms first, then consider how the title shifts the sculpture from a simple monument toward an idea of inner life and personal experience.

The sculpture is part of the Rotonda’s public-art landscape, which also includes Salvador Dalí’s La Noblesse du temps and other pieces in the city centre. The square sits near the river promenade and the main tourist office, so El meu univers can be included in a short walk through Andorra la Vella’s contemporary art. It is not inside a museum or restricted exhibition room; the work is encountered in public space among urban movement, traffic, pedestrians and nearby commercial streets. Take time to look from several angles while remaining on pedestrian areas, since roads and roundabouts nearby are active parts of the city’s circulation.

The precise placement of El meu univers has changed over time as the Rotonda’s public-art arrangement evolved. Local reporting notes that the totem, originally prominent beside the square, was moved after the installation of other urban furniture and the arrival of Dalí’s sculpture. Older descriptions may therefore point to a historic spot rather than the present position. The assigned map marker is the most practical orientation, but visitors should scan the square and nearby tourist-office area if the sculpture is not immediately visible. The work remains associated with Plaça la Rotonda even when its position within the public space is adjusted.

El meu univers is an outdoor work with no admission fee or fixed opening schedule. It can be viewed at any time when the surrounding public space is accessible, but nighttime lighting and visibility may vary. The square can be busy during shopping periods, events and peak visitor seasons. For photographs, be mindful of other pedestrians and avoid stepping into vehicle lanes or obstructing the riverside path. The sculpture itself should not be climbed or touched in ways that could damage the surface. Its location in a central urban setting makes a brief visit easy to combine with shopping, dining or a riverside walk.

The work also offers a compact introduction to Gaset Flinch’s broader career. Official museum material describes her decades-long practice, from early figurative and family-centred subjects through the geometric totems and later cylindrical and spherical forms. Her sculpture has been shown in Andorra and elsewhere in Europe, and she has contributed to public art and cultural education in the country. Seeing El meu univers in the street gives visitors a direct encounter with that development without requiring a gallery visit. Those interested in learning more about her work can look for current exhibitions or municipal art information, since temporary displays change over time.

The Rotonda functions as a meeting point between the city’s cultural, commercial and riverside areas. From here, visitors can continue along the Valira promenade, visit the tourist office, or walk toward the historic centre and Casa de la Vall. The Dalí sculpture nearby is much more widely photographed, but the two works have distinct authors, materials and meanings. El meu univers is not a companion piece by Dalí and should not be confused with La Noblesse du temps. Together, however, the works show how public sculpture can bring different artistic generations into a shared civic space.

For a more considered visit, pause long enough to notice the silhouette against the surrounding buildings and the way stacked forms create a totemic outline. The title invites a personal response rather than a single literal interpretation. Some visitors may read the work as a tower, an abstract figure or a sequence of compressed shapes; the artist’s own wider practice supports attention to how form and human experience meet. The sculpture does not require a long stop, but it rewards more than a passing glance, especially when seen as part of the city’s larger collection of contemporary art.

El meu univers is a convenient cultural stop for visitors in central Andorra la Vella and an important work in the public presence of Judit Gaset Flinch. Use the current map point because historic sources describe earlier placements, look around the Rotonda rather than expecting a formal museum entrance, and treat the square as an active public space. A few minutes with the totem can add a local artistic perspective to a walk that might otherwise focus only on shopping or the better-known Dalí sculpture nearby.