An endless staircase has been installed in the grounds of Tate Modern providing visitors with a unique experience in celebrating majestic and imaginative design in London.
With endless reconfiguration possibilities The Endless Stair, designed by dRMM Architects, resembles something out of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School.
The staircase was commissioned by the American Harwood Export Council who donated a total of 11.4 tonnes of tulipwood for its construction. The total length of the panels used for the adjoining 15 staircases amount to four and a half times the height of London’s world-famous Big Ben.
"The programme of modern art and architecture at Tate Modern, combined with the Thames panorama of London, provides a context to which dRMM’s Escher-inspired installation can make a distinctive contribution," says Alex de Rijke, co-founder of dRMM Architects.
As well as being one of the highlights of the 2013 London Design Festival, and encouraging people to interact with contemporary and technical design, the Endless Stair also wishes to showcase timber as the new “concrete”. It predicts that the material will be the dominant construction material of the 21st century due to its abundance, recyclable qualities and strength.
The installation will be accessible during daylight hours and at night will be light with an artistic lighting scheme by Seam Design using luminaries provided by Lumenpulse.
Endless Stair will be open to the public during London Design Festival and until 10 October 2013.
