Wednesday 21 September 2016

Reading steps

A 19th century structure removed from context and re-imagined. A spiraling staircase – a fragment of a coil – standing in half shadow. It’s no longer a means to go somewhere, it has become the somewhere. Once held up by four walls, it is now re-mastered and self-supporting. Leavened by gravity and steel, heavy as the shadows. The oak and pine is pitted with a century and a half of daily rituals. It was discovered as a crumbling splinter of its former self. Careful, painstaking repairs have paved the way for its new function. A discrete yet bold intervention – a seat in place of steps, where dark cushions encourage you to pause. An old thoroughfare is now a place to stop, and read. In solitary contemplation, or intimate recital. The Reading Steps disorder the previous function, and create a new calm certainty. It’s about the beauty of a quiet disruption.James Plumb

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