Paradigm is a monumental sculpture commissioned to mark the opening of The Francis Crick Institute; Europe’s largest biomedical research centre. The deliberately precarious geometry celebrates the ideas of Thomas Kuhn, who believed that for ideas to progress old paradigms should be toppled by the new.

The structure comprises a series of distorted tetrahedrons, each 10% larger than the one before, arranged in a radically top-heavy tapered tetrahelix. Artistic intent, engineering detail and the raw marks of fabrication are all evident in the finish.

Continuing our long standing collaborative relationship with the artist, Conrad Shawcross, Structure Workshop was involved from the early competition stage and played a pivotal role in Paradigm’s design: from the development of its geometry through to the structural solutions; detailed FE analysis; prototyping; testing; and the specification of both fabrication and installation processes.