If you happen to be strolling through Charterhouse Square in London this month, don’t be surprised if you find a building that looks like it’s quite literally slouching. No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you — it’s just artist Alex Chinneck doing what he does best: bending the rules of architecture and reality.
His latest installation, “A Week at the Knees”, is turning heads at Clerkenwell Design Week. At first glance, it looks like a classic four-story Georgian building…until you realize it’s melting to the ground in a graceful, brick-layered slump. The undulating facade forms a dramatic archway at its base — a tunnel of illusion that invites curious passersby to walk underneath and experience the piece from all angles.
If this playful piece reminds you of Chinneck’s famous 2013 sliding house — the one that looked like it was peeling off the street — you’re not alone. This new creation echoes that same spirit of architectural mischief, but takes it several steps further in both scale and craftsmanship.
What’s truly fascinating is how Chinneck has rooted this surreal vision in the very real architecture of the area. Every detail, from the handmade bricks and custom-bent windows to the lighting fixtures and drainpipes, faithfully mirrors the surrounding Georgian homes — just with a dreamlike twist. The illusion is so striking, it’s easy to forget you’re looking at a sculpture, not a crumbling house in motion.
And while the facade appears feather-light, it’s anything but — weighing in at a whopping 12.6 tons. Its core is built from steel salvaged from the demolished American Embassy in London, giving the structure not only stability but a story embedded in the city’s history.
So how does something so heavy appear so graceful? The answer lies in the ingenious design — the facade is only six inches thick, cleverly hiding the brute strength beneath its elegant droop.
Chinneck’s work goes far beyond mere spectacle. His installations invite us to look at architecture with fresh eyes — to find poetry in bricks, playfulness in structure, and art in the everyday. As he puts it all together — bricks, history, humor, and a hint of illusion — what emerges is more than just a sculpture. It’s a conversation with the city itself.
Born in 1984, Alex Chinneck MRSS has built a reputation for transforming public spaces into visual riddles. A former aspiring cricketer from Bedford Modern School — where his father taught PE — Alex turned to art at 16 and never looked back. He went on to study painting at Chelsea College of Arts and became a Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Today, his name is synonymous with large-scale installations that baffle, beguile, and brighten the public realm.
“A Week at the Knees” will remain on view through the end of June — so if you’re in London, don’t miss your chance to see a building that’s clearly had enough…and decided to sit down.
