Arne jacobsen, rødovre town hall, stairwell 1952-1956

rødovre town hall, 1952-1956. architect: arne jacobsen, 1902-1971.

and finally, inescapably, jacobsen's most famous detail: the rødovre central staircase, suspended in orange-red steel rods from the roof construction. the sides are cut from 5 cm (two inch) steel plate, painted a dark grey; the steps are stainless, only a few milimeters, bent and with a rubber top for "grip".

it remains as sexy as when it was first revealed and quickly secured jacobsen his first invitation to an architectural competition in germany. jacobsen came well prepared, having already won a fair number of his danish projects in competitions (basically, that is how you get commisions in this country), and the final decade of his career included several large scale projects in germany, two in england (where he had hoped for so much more) and even one in kuwait.