Swarovski Crystal Palace installations 'Perspectives' by John Pawson

photos courtesy of Swarovski

St. Paul’s Cathedral Transformed into ‘Crystal Palace’ : Installation by John Pawson for Swarovski

John Pawson installs ‘Perspectives’, a new work for Swarovski Crystal Palace, in partnership with the London Design Festival, within St Paul’s Cathedral, marking the 300th anniversary of the completion of Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece.

The UK’s leading minimalist, John Pawson, and Swarovski Crystal Palace have created a spectacular installation in the Geometric Staircase of St Paul’s Cathedral to reveal a new perspective of this architectural masterpiece and the genius of Sir Christopher Wren.

Entitled ‘Perspectives’, this experiential work will be unveiled during the London Design Festival, 17^th to 25^th September, and will remain open to the public until January 2012.

Reflecting Wren’s desire that his buildings should incorporate scientific elements, ‘Perspectives’ uses the largest Swarovski lens ever manufactured to create a dramatic optical experience which depends on scientific subtlety, material simplicity and a complex combination of light, space and proportion to reflect an environment rich in history and beauty.

John Pawson explains: “St Paul’s is one of the most recognisable buildings in the country. Inevitably it’s the grand architectural moves which everyone knows – the west elevation, the nave and the dome. In collaboration with Swarovski, I have been given the chance to turn the focus on a less familiar element – the Geometric Staircase – which is a detail, but also a complete architectural moment in its own right. The cathedral is an immensely complex work of architecture and the temptation when you visit is to try to take in everything. This is about offering a spatial experience based around a single, sharply honed perspective. The form this experience takes is shaped by Wren’s own interest in creating scientific instruments out of buildings.”

For Swarovski, the collaboration marks a high point of its Crystal Palace project, an experimental design platform developed by Nadja Swarovski which allows world class designers to develop extraordinary work using the medium of crystal. In the past ten years, collaborations with the likes of Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid, Tom Dixon, Ross Lovegrove, Tord Boontje, Arik Levy and Yves Behar have resulted in a spectacular body of work which provides a snapshot of the most exciting and creative minds of the 21^st century.

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