Step Beyond the Horizon

  • Prize
    Jury's Favorite in Architectural Design - Landscape
  • Company/Firm
    Orchestra Design Studio
  • Lead Designer
    Edouard Moreau
  • Design Team
    Ekaterina Goldberg, Karina Ashrapova, Anastasia Zavada, Kamilla Ibragimova, Viktoria Molokina, Olga Sarapulova + Institute for Urban development of Bashkortostan
  • Const. Company
    «Uralstroy» company
  • Photographer Credit
    Valeev Zagir, Tretyakov Vladislav
  • Location
    Beloretsk, Bashkortostan, Russia
  • Client
    Institute for Urban development of Bashkortostan, Beloretsk District Administration
  • Project Date
    2021

The Metal Ribbon Staircase is an outdoor staircase, which links a climbing spot to a viewing platform 20m above at the top of a big rock. It provides a new connection between the lower and upper part of the new park of the city of Beloretsk in the South Ural. We choose corten and metal to create a "monolith effect" contrasting with the intricacy of geological lines and the wide color palette of the rocks. The staircase acts as a "ribbon" which dynamically envelops the climbing rock, providing different viewpoints along the way. The use of metal is also a symbolic link with the siderurgical industry of the city; a symbiotic and sometimes conflicting relation between nature and industry.
In the evening Beloretsk, a low light of the metal ribbon staircase can be seen through thin vertical openings and from the bottom. In the forest of our Beloretsk park, we created a circular sports route with integrated workout elements for all ages. The route helps to develop agility and inspire people to visit the Southern Urals nature. The forest has become not only a platform for sports training and walks, but also a place of re-connection between people and nature.