The spiral staircase has, unsurprisingly, changed little since its initial and incredibly successful integration into the lexicon of modern architecture. After all these years, the model largely remains Purist, an exuberant flourish in an otherwise ‘rational’ context, with few exceptions, let alone anything that could be constituted as innovations (see the portable spiral staircase). The Saifi Staircase by Beirut-based designer “factory” .PSLAB builds on the classic iteration, adding a sculptural light fixture whose fanning array of lights picks up on the stairs’ dependable contours.

Designed in collaboration with Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury, the lighting concept extends the spiral of the staircase upwards, absorbed by the chandelier like headpiece suspended above. I would hazard a comparison between the work’s crown of lights to Duchamp’s striated exercises in movement–best exemplified by Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2–if Kelly Chan of Artinfo hadn’t done so already. We need a whole new reference books–it would make blogging so much easier.

by Samuel Medina

posted in Uncategorized

tagged .PSLAB, design, lighting, lighting concept, lighting fixture, motion, Purism, spiral staircase, staircase

more articles by Samuel Medina