Six pins and half a dozen needles
On 1 August 2017, British artist Alex Chinneck unveiled his first permanent public installation – a giant rip in the brick façade of a London building.
Titled ‘Six Pins and half a Dozen Needles’ the surrealist installation is located on the site of Assembly London, Hammersmith, a former publishing house. Reaching a height of 20 m, and weighing 10 tonnes, the installation is designed to appear as though the building’s red brick façade has cracked in half. Chinneck intended the split to resemble a page ripped from a book.
The product of 14 months’ work collaborating with structural engineers, steelworkers and brick-makers, the piece consists of 4,000 bricks and more than 1,000 stainless steel components. It is formed on a steel framework that is bolted and welded to the building. The ‘rip’ is achieved by using the stainless steel components together with hundreds of unique bricks which were individually cut by hand and water.
The installation process took 18 hours, with each section having to be lifted 75 m to clear the neighbouring buildings on the site.
Alex Chinneck said:
“The work was conceived to engage people in a fun and uplifting way. Although we use real brick, it was designed with a cartoon-like quality to give the sculpture an endearing artifice and playful personality. I set out to create accessible artworks and I sincerely hope this becomes a popular landmark for London and positive experience for Londoners.”
Chinneck is no stranger to the surreal spectacle that merges architecture with sculpture, with previous works including a melting house constructed from wax bricks, and a house façade that appeared to have slumped into the street in Margate.
Alex Chinneck’s ‘Six pins and half a dozen needles’ is a permanent installation and can be viewed at Assembly London, 77 Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8JA.
Content and images courtesy of Alex Chinneck.
Images © Charles Emerson
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
What they are, how they work and why they are popular in many countries.
Plastic, recycling and its symbol
Student competition winning, M.C.Esher inspired Möbius strip design symbolising continuity within a finite entity.
Do you take the lead in a circular construction economy?
Help us develop and expand this wiki as a resource for academia and industry alike.
Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce
Risks of undermining UK’s energy transition due to lack of electrotechnical industry representation, says ECA.
Cost Optimal Domestic Electrification CODE
Modelling retrofits only on costs that directly impact the consumer: upfront cost of equipment, energy costs and maintenance costs.
The Warm Homes Plan details released
What's new and what is not, with industry reactions.
Could AI and VR cause an increase the value of heritage?
The Orange book: 2026 Amendment 4 to BS 7671:2018
ECA welcomes IET and BSI content sign off.
How neural technologies could transform the design future
Enhancing legacy parametric engines, offering novel ways to explore solutions and generate geometry.
Key AI related terms to be aware of
With explanations from the UK government and other bodies.
From QS to further education teacher
Applying real world skills with the next generation.
A guide on how children can use LEGO to mirror real engineering processes.
Data infrastructure for next-generation materials science
Research Data Express to automate data processing and create AI-ready datasets for materials research.
Wired for the Future with ECA; powering skills and progress
ECA South Wales Business Day 2025, a day to remember.
AI for the conservation professional
A level of sophistication previously reserved for science fiction.
Biomass harvested in cycles of less than ten years.
An interview with the new CIAT President
Usman Yaqub BSc (Hons) PCIAT MFPWS.
Cost benefit model report of building safety regime in Wales
Proposed policy option costs for design and construction stage of the new building safety regime in Wales.
Do you receive our free biweekly newsletter?
If not you can sign up to receive it in your mailbox here.