art in architecture

Stairway Fichtenhain

For a private modular studio house, a marble staircase is planned to connect the garden with the house level. The height to be overcome is 45 cm.
The design concept is open.

Project idea

The idea for the project proposal emerged during a sleepless night. Three pallets were stacked on top of one another in front of the studio. Their total height was exactly 45 cm, matching the height difference that needed to be overcome.

This led to the idea of interpreting the three pallets as a staircase. The clients were immediately enthusiastic about the concept.

The pallet, an everyday, functional and provisional object, is removed from its original context and transformed into a permanent architectural element: petrified pallets, a marble staircase.

Its linear structure reflects the order of the architecture. By slightly shifting the stacked pallets, the staircase deliberately breaks with the strict rhythm of the window arrangement. This creates a subtle sense of disorientation: rather than leading straight ahead, the staircase guides the person entering with a slight turn into the house — or back out into the garden.

The pallet symbolises the temporary, mobile and interchangeable, while at the same time reflecting key characteristics of modular construction. Elements are prefabricated, transported and assembled, and can in principle be altered, repositioned or relocated again. 
In marble, this temporary object undergoes a deliberate reversal: the light, inconspicuous and mobile transport element becomes a heavy, permanent and timeless architectural feature. The originally interchangeable pallet is transformed into a unique piece and gains a sculptural presence.

The temporary nature of the pallet contrasts with the permanence intended for life in this award-winning house.
The marble sculpture thus becomes a metaphor for permanence.

Production of the sculpture

The three-step staircase is carved from a single block of marble.  
The material is selected and cut in Carrara before being transported to the studio in Switzerland. Over several months, the forms and details of the three pallets are meticulously carved from the marble by hand.  

Dimensions: 1885 × 1425 × 460 mm