Culinary masters 3DS Culinary Lab normally create weird and wonderful 3-D printed foods in their studio, but when they wanted to add a bold centerpiece to the space, they turned to Oyler Wu Collaborative. The Los Angeles-based architects and designers created a mind-blowing staircase that is as much sculpture as it is architecture.
The ultra curvy staircase, which sits smack dab in the middle of the culinary studio, is made up of interconnected CNC-milled sheets of wood and machine-curved steel elements. As the staircase rises, its white steel railing begins to twist and turn, interconnecting with wooden planks. The resulting design creates an optical illusion of a living, breathing structure.
Related: 14 Unique and Spectacular Staircases Around the World
The staircase is certainly the centerpiece of the bare-bones 3,000-square-foot interior, which, along with the staircase, is equipped with a two-story, glass-walled demonstration kitchen, a showroom, and office space. The 3D printing culinary space would have been a perfect setting for a 3D printed staircase, however, due to budget restrictions, the architects decided to use another digital option.
“Our initial idea was to create something that showcased 3-D printing at an architectural scale, but the cost would have been too much,” Jenny Wu, a partner at the collaborative, says. “If we couldn’t use 3-D printing at an architectural scale, what other digital fabrication techniques could we use? How could we push the idea of fabrication on the architectural side like the lab pushed the envelope for 3-D printing for food?”
Via Fast Co Design
