A Week at the Knees by Alex Chinneck, Charterhouse Square, London, UK (2025)
A Week
at the Knees
Alex Chinneck · a reclining brick facade for Clerkenwell Design Week 2025 · Charterhouse Square, London
Photo: Matt Brown, 6 June 2025 · CC BY 2.0 · resized from the licensed original, already in the Street Art Utopia archive.
The green front door is almost on the grass. Above it, windows and a drainpipe follow a brick wall over a path, as though a London townhouse had put its feet up. Alex Chinneck made this freestanding sculpture for Clerkenwell Design Week in May 2025. The festival confirms the work and site. A later Interior Design report says its display ended in early July 2025; the exact removal day and its present location are unconfirmed.
5 things to know
- A house taking a holidayChinneck explained the title as a building reclining with its knees raised: the holiday idea, the name of Design Week and the knees in his earlier Margate work all fed into the wordplay. FAD Magazine Reported
- The brickwork is a skinThe artist describes cut brick faces bonded to stainless steel over a rolled-steel skeleton, then finished with lime pointing. That is how the wall can look so thin while following the curve. Alex Chinneck in Londonist Reported
- Part of a former embassy became the frameMichelmersh records 4.6 tonnes of reused steel from the former American Embassy in London, supplied by Cleveland Steel. Its two brick ranges were Floren Albion and Freshfield Lane First Quality Multi. Michelmersh Reported
- The difficult part happened before the lorry arrivedChinneck told Architecture Today that the brick bonding took two to three months and used 320 kg of glue. Engineering was developed with Smith and Wallwork; final assembly took place at his Kent farm. Architecture Today Reported
- You could go underneathIan Mansfield’s June visit describes walking through the arch and finding the front door finished on its inner face too. The walk-through opening made the illusion something visitors could physically enter. ianVisits Checked
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Former display site: Charterhouse Square, Barbican, London EC1M 6AN, as listed by the festival.
- 🗓️
- The 2025 installation has ended. The retrospective report places its run through early July. The map points to the square, not to a confirmed current home for the sculpture.
- 🚇
- Ian Mansfield described the square as a short walk from Farringdon or Barbican stations in his June 2025 visit report.
Sightings
- 202520 May
Opening-day artist interview
- 20254 Jun
ianVisits walks beneath the arch
- 20256 Jun
Photo taken: front view
- 20256 Jun
Photo taken: side view
- 202519 Aug
Report: display ended in early July
- 20269 Feb
Retrospective, not a new sighting
Green stamps mark a visit report or dated photographs. The red stamp is dated to the later report, not the removal day: it says the display ran through early July 2025. The February 2026 article looks back at the temporary installation; it does not show the sculpture back in place. Website update dates are not treated as new sightings.
On the record
A place to walk around and through
“the new work is a free standing sculpture”
Chinneck distinguishes this work from the attached facade of his earlier Margate installation.
Built to have a life after the festival
“It’s not a temporary structure at all”
The artist wanted the sculpture to survive its short first display, possibly in a museum or on tour.
Looking back at the London display
“was up through early July”
Nicholas Tamarin’s retrospective is the evidence used here for the end of the Charterhouse Square display.
The facts
- Artist / title
- Alex Chinneck, A Week at the Knees. Alex Chinneck · Clerkenwell Design Week Checked
- Made / unveiled
- 2025; already installed when FAD’s opening-day interview appeared on 20 May. FAD Magazine · Clerkenwell Design Week Checked
- Commission
- Created at the invitation of Clerkenwell Design Week for its 2025 event. FAD Magazine · Architecture Today Checked
- Form
- A freestanding sculpture modelled on Georgian townhouse fronts around the square, with a path passing beneath its arch. Clerkenwell Design Week · ianVisits Checked
- Dimensions
- Approximately 13.5 m long, 5.5 m high and 15 cm thick, according to the festival. The four-storey description refers to the facade represented, not a four-storey occupiable building. Clerkenwell Design Week · Michelmersh Checked
- Brick / steel
- Around 7,000 brick faces and 320 m of repurposed steel in the festival’s account. The artist explains the cut brick facing and lime pointing. Clerkenwell Design Week · Alex Chinneck in Londonist Checked
- Windows
- Crittall engineered custom steel sash windows to follow the curve, including the glazing. Crittall Windows Reported
- Weight
- The festival and Chinneck’s Londonist account give 11.5 tonnes. Interior Design lists 28,660 lb (about 13 tonnes). We retain the artist/festival figure and flag the discrepancy. Clerkenwell Design Week · Alex Chinneck in Londonist · Interior Design Conflicting
- Transport
- Interior Design documents three sections travelling from Kent on a flatbed truck. Chinneck told FAD the sculpture could come apart for future moves. Interior Design · FAD Magazine Reported
- Our photos
- Matt Brown took both photographs on 6 June 2025; the Commons records identify him and CC BY 2.0. The files used here are resized copies from SAU’s existing archive. Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons · Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons Checked
- Status
- Gone from this display site in 2025, based on Interior Design’s later account of a run ending in early July. The Brick Development Association’s 9 February 2026 article also describes the installation retrospectively. Interior Design · Brick Development Association Reported
- After London
- Future touring was an intention, not a confirmed itinerary. We found no verified new venue or exact dismantling date in the sources checked for this file. FAD Magazine · Brick Development Association Unconfirmed
Related
- Both views appear in Alex Chinneck’s Architectural Illusions (8 Photos) on Street Art Utopia.
- The earlier attached facade: From the Knees of My Nose to the Belly of My Toes, Margate.
- Another Chinneck file: A Pound of Flesh for 50p, London’s melting house.
All sources (12)
Artist, project records and reporting
- Alex Chinneck — Artist’s project gallery. Confirms the title and shows the work; gallery photographs credited to Charles Emerson. Its website update date is not a new sighting.
- Clerkenwell Design Week — Commissioning festival’s project record: Charterhouse Square, 2025, dimensions, brick and steel quantities, collaborators and stated weight.
- FAD Magazine — Marta Bogna-Drew interviews Chinneck, 20 May 2025. Title, invitation, distinction from Margate, disassembly and intentions for later display. Original closing date was tentative.
- Architecture Today — 21 May 2025. Artist’s account of engineering, adhesive, lime pointing, Kent assembly and possible future display.
- ianVisits — Ian Mansfield, 4 June 2025. First-hand visit, walk-through arch, completed inner door face and location. Its late-June end date was prospective.
- Alex Chinneck in Londonist — First-person text by Alex Chinneck, 4 June 2025. Rolled-steel skeleton, stainless-steel skin, cut brick facings and lime pointing.
- Michelmersh — Manufacturer’s project account, undated. Brick varieties, steel provenance and quantity; the July end date is a plan, not removal documentation.
- Crittall Windows — Window manufacturer, 28 May 2025. Custom curved sash windows and glazing.
- Interior Design — Nicholas Tamarin, 19 August 2025. Retrospective display dates, three-part transport and an alternative weight figure.
- Brick Development Association — Sallyanne Banks, 9 February 2026. Retrospective description of the limited display and design for potential future relocation.
Dated photographs
- Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons — Front view, photographed 6 June 2025 at 13:07:41. Matt Brown; CC BY 2.0. Commons links the original Flickr image.
- Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons — Side view, photographed 6 June 2025 at 13:07:25. Matt Brown; CC BY 2.0. Commons links the original Flickr image.
Artwork File · Last checked 13 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files