Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for? - Robert Browning
DESIGN GENISIS 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. Babel’s Stairway 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 nature’s 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 epoch, a 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.