Perspectives by John Pawson | London Design Festival

19 September - late '11

The Geometric Staircase in St Paul's Cathedral is housing an optical installation, entitled Perspectives, designed by John Pawson as part of the London Design Festival.

As part of the cathedral's tercentenary celebrations, the London Design Festival has invited John Pawson to present a remarkable installation which references Sir Christopher Wren's desire that his buildings should have a scientific purpose.

The installation, entitled Perspectives, designed in collaboration with Swarovski, is located within the Geometric Staircase. There is a nice precedent for this idea of using the architecture as an optical instrument, since Sir Christopher Wren used a similar chamber in The Monument as an observatory.

The intention is to turn this extraordinary spatial volume into its own viewing device. The installation consists of a concave Swarovski crystal meniscus - the largest commissionable lens – which will be located at the bottom of the stairwell. This lens sits on a much larger reflective surface - the upper plane of a specially fabricated metal hemisphere (1200mm in diameter and 675mm in height). A 2m wide spherical convex mirror is suspended in the tower's cupola, directly over the hemisphere. Acting in concert, these optical devices result in a composite image of the view up through the tower and an elevated downward perspective appearing to visitors who are gathered round the hemisphere.

Perspectives by John Pawson

Perspectives by John Pawson