Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for? -Robert Browning

DESIGN GENESIS
BABEL’S STAIR
The visitors gains access to the exhibition by ascending a
spiraling structure that leads to the second story entrance of the building,
though rather than terminating at the entrance, the structure continues
spiraling upward toward the sky, terminating in a unfinished manner in the
direction of the harbor.
The Babel Stair is meant to serve as a brief journey that entices the visitor to enter
the exhibition. The visitor approaches the structure facing the exhibition building
and the city. As the visitor ascends the structure to the top, s/he is turned
nearly 180 degrees and presented with a view out over Aarhus Harbor. The
contrasting perspectives may offer an introductory glimpse into man’s near total
influence over his environment, perhaps only the sight of the water serving as a
reminder of natures presence.
The upward spiraling and unfinished aesthetic of the structure is meant as a
visual reference to Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s famous depiction of the Tower
of Babel. The story and image of the Tower of Babel is one of the earliest and
most powerful accounts of man’s (unsuccessful) attempt to surpass nature. The
topics addressed in the exhibition beg the question as to whether man has now
succeeded in transcending nature, or, if there are –consequences still that lay
in wait?
The Tower of Babel was built in bricks. Our tower is built in Euro pallets. Just
as bricks in the Tower of Babel were seen as a symbol of the industrious
nature of man, the 120x80cm Euro pallet assumes a particularly iconic role in
modern society as the nearly indispensable unit for global trade, production,
consumption and constant transit of goods. However, its reuse and application
as something new and entirely unintended to its original purpose may also
be taken as a sign of the changing consciousness of man in his own epocha
change that looks to re-establish a mutually beneficial relationship to the
environment.
On the ground, the structure forms a semi-circular space oriented toward the
harbor. Plants and seating are integrated into the structure which, as a whole,
serves as a gathering place and iconic backdrop for the exhibition