Can a sculpture embody the prodigious ambitions of a biomedical research institute? Artist Conrad Shawcross took up this challenge upon winning a commission from London’s Francis Crick Institute, Europe’s largest biomedical research facility. <br><br>The institute operates on the frontiers of research in understanding human health and disease<sup>1</sup>. Shawcross’ response to representing these aims through art was <em>Paradigm</em> (2016). At 14m it is one of London’s tallest public sculptures. Comprising a series of stacked tetrahedral segments, it rises from a narrow origin at ground level, growing incrementally to a span of over 5.5m at its apex. The segments tessellate awkwardly as they progress, taking a precarious, twisted route skywards, symbolising the growth of knowledge.<br><br>Shawcross' inspiration was Thomas Kuhn's revolutionary concept of the <em>paradigm shift</em>. He sought to incorporate this idea by combining the portrayal of the institute’s potential for groundbreaking discovery with the perils and pitfalls of scientific progress: <blockquote>Paradigm is … a metaphor for potential; the potential to grow, to take risks, to be bold and brave.”<sup>2</sup></blockquote><br>The chosen material, weathered steel, although tempered by its outer vulnerability (with age the surface oxidises to a rusty patina) reflects the tenacity of innovative research through its inner strength and solidity. It also reflects the heritage of the location’s industrial past, situated as it is between the institute’s entrance and the magnificence of the redeveloped St Pancras Station. <br><br>By uniting the heritage of an industrial past with the technology of the present, Shawcross succeeds in capturing the institute’s ambitions.<br>