London-based architecture firm dRMM has designed The Endless Stair, a highlight of the 2013 London Design Festival, located on the lawn in front of the world-renowned Tate Modern.
The project is the brainchild of architect Alex de Rijke, founder of architects dRMM and Dean of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, working to a commission from the American Hardwood Export Council, and engineered by Arup. As well as providing an exciting experience with several platforms from which to enjoy views down towards the Thames, the project has a serious technical purpose to showcase the potential of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels made from American tulipwood.
When we think of a staircase, we think of an inclined walkway composed of treads, vertically connecting the various levels of a building–an area of transition in architecture. the endless compositional and social possibilities of these structures is what has driven UK-based firm dRMM to explore their potential in the form of ‘endless stair’. the temporary sculpture has been realized as a series of single staircases which can be interlocked with one another–a three-dimensional exercise in framework, composition and scale; sometimes leading nowhere, often leading somewhere. each component of this pre-fabricated construction plays an important role in the additive system and is easily demountable, so that it can be set-up on another site.
Visitors can climb up, down, over and under the structure, with some stairs leading from one to another and others to dead ends. Initially proposed to sit next to St Paul’s Cathedral, the installation was relocated to the lawn in front of Tate Modern, the famous art gallery housed in a former power station on the south bank of the river.
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