There is no denying the fact that we have all once imagined how the "Stairway to heaven" would look like. Artists have depicted this as a long, endless staircase disappearing into the clouds in the sky. But now, one can ascend a somewhat similar interesting staircase at the London Design Festival.
A t the London Design Festival, slated to be held from 14 to 22 September, dRMM, a famous architecture firm, will be installing an almost "endless" Escher-style wooden staircase just outside St. Paul's Cathedral. The project will be developed in association with Arup, a design engineering firm, and the American Hardwood Export Council.
The structure will look like a complex set of interlocking steps, each leading to an upper level. The stairway will be made of 44 cubic meters of tulipwood- a sustainable, cheaper and stronger form of hardwood. At the base of each staircase level, two stone steps will be installed.
The concept behind the design is to display the stark contrast between the spiraling staircase in wood and the straight, serious 'stone and glass' architectural tone of the city.
"Endless Stair is a three-dimensional exercise in composition, structure and scale. The Escher-like game of perception and circulation in timber playfully contrasts with the religious and corporate environment of stone and glass in the city," Alex de Rijke, co-founder of dRMM, said to Dezeen.
Visitors will be allowed to climb the stairway right to the top, which will provide scenic views of the River Thames, Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge.
The endless staircase is a part of the festival's "landmark projects," which was first introduced in 2007 by t he festival authorities. It draws various architects to create masterpieces in some of the most iconic public spaces in London.
"What really interests us is making each year different. If one of the skills of design is to look at the world in new ways, that's something we want to reflect. And that's very much the theme behind our Landmark Projects," Ben Evans, director of the festival explained.
About The London Design Festival
The London Design Festival is an annual design and architecture event held in the city to promote it as a design capital. The festival was first started in 2003. It comprises of over 300 design and architectural exhibitions and events that are created by some of the most renowned designers and architects of the world.
Read more about the festival, here.
Many other projects are to be announced in the coming few months, including a "God is in the Details" theme, which will see Swarovski, the crystal company, challenging 20 designers to take up a design from its V&A collection and highlight its details using Swarovski lenses, reports Designweek.