Écru Architetti's blue staircase in Biella, Italy

Écru describe their method as ‘theory based’, with an approach that emphasises making. Their current built projects are all intriguing small scale explorations of materials, atmosphere and urban environments. The schene, ‘Invena’ inserts itself into an old operating theatre that Écru describe as ‘dead’, reinvigorating the space with a bright blue staircase that leads nowhere in particular. This embedding of a foreign object in a seemingly random environment provides a commentary on widespread urban developments that are taking over natural landscapes.