In the name of Fine Art, we present to you a stairway to nowhere. Start walking up this winding, twisting stainless steel staircase and you end up right back where you started. Sculptor Olafur Eliasson thought this artwork, which he calls Rewriting, would be a good idea, but we’re thinking it’s an exercise in frustrating futility. But it makes ya think. Could it be an observation deck? Perhaps it's a monument dedicated to those who spin their wheels all day.
Proprietors of global accounting firm KPMG, whose office building in Munich hosts this circuitous route to nothingness, must have wanted to make a philosophical statement about the futility of social climbing. Or maybe their constant number crunching reminded them of that immutable law of terra firma: What goes up, must come down. Run the numbers on this one, guys: It would have been cheaper to just walk up the Down escalator.
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Via Freshome, photos by Christian Beirle
editor@dvice.com
By Zermatt at 2:03 PM ON 03/24/08
I like to think that the intended purpose is for lunch time exercise. Stair climbing is an excellent exercise and these numbers geeks could use the exercise.
By BJ at 2:22 PM ON 03/24/08
Awesome! Don't be so cynical - it's Art! And the artist got paid!
By CJW at 2:27 PM ON 03/24/08
Looks like an attraction at the "Upskirt World Hall of Fame"
By Paul Milenkovic at 4:17 PM ON 03/24/08
I never understood Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof and the "one staircase going up, one staircase going down, and one staircase going nowhere just for show" until now.
By DaToad at 5:07 PM ON 03/24/08
Perhaps inspired by a couple of M.C. Escher's lithographs: Ascending and Descending, and Waterfall? Even if, it's still pretty cool.
By Nostradamus at 6:27 PM ON 03/24/08
It's not handicapped accessable. Someone will sue them to make it so, or take it down.
By bizack707 at 1:58 PM ON 03/25/08
lol...
Nostradamus said it all...
then it would be a freaking skateboard ramp...
not a bad idea...
By wilma at 5:38 AM ON 03/27/08
Beautiful!
By Kumo at 5:53 AM ON 03/27/08
I loooove it !!!!!
And it reminds me the sculpture in front of the building at the end of the first season of Heroes.
By Buck at 7:21 AM ON 03/27/08
Maybe higher managment wants to deter underlings from climbing the corporate ladder to take their jobs away from them. So the futility angle is for job security.
By Ryan at 7:43 AM ON 03/27/08
mheh, it's not the first time I've seen something like that. Although, I will say that one looks cooler... and much more scary (I would NOT climb it LOL).
By slydaisymae at 8:04 AM ON 03/27/08
I like it. Reminds me of all the people that just sit around all day spinning their wheels and getting nowhere.
By Bigdadd at 9:53 AM ON 03/27/08
This is pretty cool although not exactly an original idea. I always wondered what it would be like to build a lifesize version of one of M.C. Escher's pieces and here it is. Still, gotta give the artist props for building it and getting paid for it, very cool!!!
By laceyalexa at 11:26 AM ON 03/27/08
I think this is really beautifully made. The designer is brillant
By flyer615 at 12:03 PM ON 03/27/08
In case of fire, use stairs ... what?
By LeadFlinger at 6:53 PM ON 03/27/08
Geez, Louise! Going down? Or is it up?
By ALANAI at 1:21 AM ON 03/28/08
IT IS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
ALANAI
By Mr Wonderful at 7:52 AM ON 03/28/08
Which way is up?
By GENERAL CONFUSION at 10:19 AM ON 03/28/08
I wonder how much federal money it took to build this.
By nulldevice at 1:19 PM ON 03/28/08
ELiasson's done some other cool, big, interactive pieces. He's one of those "that's odd...but kinda cool" sort of artists.
He did a huge installation at the Tate Modern a few years back. It was impressive.
By neo914 at 5:06 PM ON 03/28/08
Nice, notice where it's at. The rectilinear building and this typically rigid tool to get you from floor to floor. Having walked up and down many stairs in Japan, it made you hate stairs. This is beautifully whimsical and Escher like mind challenging.
By Paperdragon at 9:38 PM ON 04/03/08
It's a beautiful and brilliant piece of art!
By copperjedi at 4:35 AM ON 04/07/08
perhaps a modern day Labyrinth?