The monumental staircase by artist Jan van der Zee will be given a new location on the Reitdiep. After years of adorning the entrance of the Naberpassage on the Grote Markt (and the Boven Jan snack bar), the staircase was removed in 2013 due to the renovation of the east wall of the Grote Markt. It has been in storage ever since, until Geveke director Harry Leggedoor read a message in the Dagblad van het Noorden.
Over the years, the municipality of Groningen has investigated various possible locations to relocate the stairs, but no suitable location came up. When Leggedoor read in the newspaper in December 2016 that the municipality was looking for a new destination for the concrete artwork, he proposed placing the stairs at his construction project 'Crossroads' on the former ACM site along the Reitdiep. Construction company Geveke was going to build a new apartment complex on this spot.
New location
The municipality and the Van der Zee heirs agreed and the staircase decoration by Jan van der Zee is given a prominent place on the Donghornsterpad cycle path, located between the Friesestraatweg at the level of the railway and the historic ACM cycle bridge. Architect Jakob van Ringen has been puzzling together with constructors from Geveke to integrate this nicely.
The staircase, which consists of separate parts, was placed at the new location this week. The side panels are also partly returning. The finishing touches will follow in the coming months. The artwork will be officially unveiled in the spring of 2023.
About the stairs
De Ploeg-artist Jan van der Zee (1898-1988) designed the staircase at the request of the Klein architectural firm in Groningen, which also designed the entire Naberpassage. The artist made a number of elements in which different abstract geometric shapes alternate. He then placed the ten separate parts one after the other. The repetition of the forms creates a rhythmic whole. The openings in the staircase decoration give the massive relief some 'air'.
The working method of Jan van der Zee can be called special. First, he drew the design in full size. He then made Styrofoam molds for the individual parts, which he reinforced with a wooden formwork. Then the concrete was poured into the molds.