London Design Festival is fully underway this week, with hundreds of events happening around the capital across nine days of aural excellence and networking a go-go.
With more events happening than is humanly able to see, it's hard to know where to start - may we suggest the Festival's centrepiece, on show at The Tate Modern, which this year, goes by the name of 'Endless Stair'.
Each year, the centrepiece is commissioned by Landmark Projects with the help of the festival's supporters - the aim is to create an amazing piece of work by one of the worlds greatest designers or architects and have it displayed at one of London's best-loved public spaces.
Endless Stair, is designed by RCA School of Architecture’s dean Alex de Rijke and is located on the lawn in front of Tate Modern. It resembles a real-life, climbable version of one of Escher's surrealist drawings. A series of 20 interlocking hardwood staircases present 187 steps to ascend, at the top awaits a new perspective of the River Thames. Alex de Rijke successfully combines playfulness here with this technically ambitious design.
For this project, London Design Festival teamed up with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) who supplied the de Rijke with this sustainable, raw material from which is crafted his masterpiece.
de Rijke is a founding Director of the architectural practice dRMM, whose work is well known for innovative construction technologies and materials. de Rijke’s most inventive design is his ‘Sliding House’, created for a private client in 2009, which won an RIBA Award and both Grand Designs ‘Best new building’ and overall ‘Best house’ categories.
Professor de Rijke has been responsible for creating a new, enlarged School of Architecture at the RCA with two new programmes. He also leads the current Master’s in Architecture (RIBA Part II) programme, formerly led by Professor Nigel Coates who left the College in July 2011. de Rijke has been at the RCA since 2012.
Enjoy the rest of the festival everyone!
http://www.londondesignfestival.com
