"The Smile" - Sculpture for the Design Festival, London

For the 2016 Design Festival in London, Alison Brooks designed "The Smile", which demonstrates the structural and spatial potential of cross-laminated timber.

Made from American tulipwood, the publicly accessible structure forms a 3.5 m high, 4.5 m wide and 34 m long curved rectangular tube. "The Smile is a huge curved hollow tube made from cross-laminated tulipwood," explains Alison Brooks. It touches the floor at one point, like a wheel. through an opening where the curved shape meets the floor, the visitor can walk from end to end of the 34-meter-long tube to discover a new space that gradually approaches the light." Two open ends illuminate the funnel-shaped interior and simultaneously form raised balconies with views of the city. Small openings on the walls create a changing sunlight during the day, while at night the interior is illuminated by linear strips that trace the curved floor of the building.

Impressions