When you see the world as a canvas for your imagination, even the most mundane structures become an opportunity for inventive design. For a visionary like Frank Gehry, the world presents itself in this way, architecture functioning as an outlet for artistry. The Gehry-designed spiral staircase at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto captures this artistic approach, material and form merging to create a structure both visually striking and practical.
Douglas-fir clad and sculptural, the staircase overlooks a central court in the museum, rising to the glass ceiling like a tree reaching towards sunlight. Still, it is not just a sculpture to marvel at from a distance. Functionally, it connects multiple gallery floors, culminating in a sweeping view of the city after 138 steps.¹ A wandering gallery patron may find themselves falling in love on these stairs, too — at least, that was Gehry’s grand intention. He designed it to be narrow in some points, so that people would naturally encounter each other, perhaps experiencing a “love at first sight” moment. The staircase’s success in sparking love matches is unconfirmed, but the design alone certainly sweeps you up in its own romance.
It was completed in 2008 as part of renovations and linked the gallery’s 1920s building with a new building also designed by Gehry. Today, it is a contemporary force in an otherwise traditional gallery space, a testament to the successful coexistence of modern and classical design in a singular space. The shape also speaks to Gehry’s design language at large, seemingly in conversation with his earliest works.
His 1970s Easy Edges furniture line, for instance, for which he gained national recognition, oddly mirrors his later staircase. A collection of pieces made by layering corrugated cardboard and fiberboard, the furniture achieved fluid, yet sturdy forms.² As his career progressed, he continued to favor complex, curvilinear forms, an inclination well-represented in the design of the AGO staircase. And from a material perspective, Gehry’s fascination with Douglas-fir is evident in his own avant-garde Santa Monica house, where he used the softwood both structurally and decoratively.³
It's no surprise that Gehry and many designers alike favor Douglas fir. Apart from its visually appealing, amber-colored tone, it possesses exceptional qualities for building.⁴ Architecture is innately tied to the selection of materials, and this wood’s significant ability to bend and resistance to warping makes it structurally dependable. For a staircase as distinct as Gehry’s, composed of 22 curved segments, the embrace of Douglas fir is a tactical choice, not simply an aesthetic one: a marriage of material and design.⁵ Despite the complexity of the construction, the final effect is a structure that appears to be effortlessly composed. It is as if, in a stroke of magic, it was lifted from Gehry’s sketchbook and transformed into a whole, unique form for museumgoers to behold.
The result of Gehry’s design is a sculpture that can be truly experienced — physically and emotionally. Admired from a distance, the fusion of natural materials with undulating form creates a calming effect on anyone in its presence. Stumbling across a work of art like this one reminds us that architecture and design at large are always ticking forward, inventing, reimagining, captivating.
