''The Scotsman Steps'' (also known as ''Work No. 1059'') is a permanent
installation
Installation may refer to:
* Installation (computer programs)
* Installation, work of installation art
* Installation, military base
* Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...
by British artist
Martin Creed
Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer and performer. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for exhibitions during the preceding year, with the jury praising his audacity for exhibiting a single installation, ''Work No. 22 ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, Scotland.
History
The Scotsman Steps were built between 1899 and 1902 by architects
Dunn & Findlay
Dunn & Findlay were a firm of Scottish architects operating in the late 19th century and responsible for a number of important commercial buildings including the '' Scotsman'' buildings which form part of the Edinburgh Old Town skyline. Each ...
as part of the construction of the building housing ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'' newspaper and, since 2001,
The Scotsman Hotel
The Scotsman Hotel Edinburgh opened in 2001 in the Edwardian (1905) building which had housed ''The Scotsman'' newspaper for nearly a century. The hotel is located on North Bridge between the Royal Mile and Princes Street, thereby straddling ...
.
The steps were built in a French style as a spiral staircase within an enclosed octagonal tower; the tower was decorated with wrought iron grilles and glazed tiles in the interior.
Historically considered a road,
[ the 104 steps form a pedestrian link between the North Bridge and ]Waverley Station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
's Market Street entrance. The construction of the Scotsman building at the turn of the 20th century was part of a regeneration of the surrounding North Bridge area; the Scotsman building and Steps formed a turreted 'gateway' between the Edinburgh New Town and Old Town.
The steps were Category A listed
This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom.
For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland.
Key
The organization of the lists in th ...
in 1974 and form part of the Edinburgh Old Town
The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-cent ...
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.[ Originally built from Carmyllie ]sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, the steps were re-levelled with a screed
Screed has three meanings in building construction:
# A flat board (screed board, floating screed) or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and to "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface ...
finish during the 1980s due to wear.
Redesign
By the early 21st century, the steps had fallen into disrepair and for decades had been plagued by vandalism and antisocial behaviour.Fruitmarket Gallery
The Fruitmarket Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Since its opening in 1974, the gallery has become part of the Scottish contemporary art scene. After a period of closure to undergo a significant renovation, the ga ...
commissioned a new public installation by Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...
winning artist Martin Creed
Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer and performer. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for exhibitions during the preceding year, with the jury praising his audacity for exhibiting a single installation, ''Work No. 22 ...
to help improve the public perception of the steps. The installation, titled ''Work No. 1059'', formed part of Creed's solo exhibition ''Down Over Up'' which was presented at the gallery in Summer 2010.[
The artwork was funded by a £250,000 grant funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and ]Edinburgh World Heritage
Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) is an independent charity in Edinburgh, Scotland established in 1999. It is tasked with conserving, enhancing and promoting Edinburgh's World Heritage Site " Old and New Towns of Edinburgh", which was designated in ...
.[
Creed's original idea for the work was to create a 'musical staircase',][ as he ultimately did on a smaller scale in the ''Down Over Up'' exhibition. Creed described the final work as a "microcosm of the whole world – stepping on the different marble steps is like walking through the world."][
Marble floors have become a recurring motif in Creed's works, including ''Work No. 1051'' (2013, ]Museo Jumex Museo may refer to:
* Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film
*Museo (Naples Metro)
Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...
, Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
) and ''Work No. 1347'' (2012, sketch restaurant, London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
).
Reception and awards
Overall response to the redesign has been positive,[ with '' Guardian'' art critic Jonathan Jones calling it "the best art at 011's]Edinburgh Art Festival
The Edinburgh Art Festival is an annual visual arts festival, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, during August and coincides with the Edinburgh International and Fringe festivals. The Art Festival was established in 2004, and receives public funding fr ...
" and "a generous, modest masterpiece of contemporary public art". In ''Art Monthly
''Art Monthly'' is a magazine of contemporary art founded in 1976 by Jack Wendler and Peter Townsend. It is based in London and has an international scope, although its main focus is on British art. The magazine is published ten times a year (wi ...
'', installation artist Vincent Martin wrote: " monuments to the global reach of empire go it is both appropriate and unobtrusive." Writing for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 2018, William Cook similarly described the redesigned steps as "magical, but supremely practical."
In 2012, the Steps won the Scottish Design Award in the Regeneration category.
.