"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. The Smile London impressively demonstrates the possibilities of modern timber engineering.

Impressions