Manfred Laber’s Time Pyramid makes the abstract concrete – literally

Humans are very bad at comprehending big numbers. That’s why people create visualisations to help us understand exactly how enormous the sun is, or how much money Jeff Bezos has.

The Zeitpyramide (Time Pyramid), designed by Manfred Laber in Wemding, Germany, explores our understanding of time. While the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in under 20 years, construction of the Zeitpyramide will span over 1200 years, with a new pyramid block being added every ten years until the year 3183.

This sculpture/experiment questions the actions of future generations, will future generations continue to fulfil long-term plans? Will they continue making the pyramid blocks out of concrete, or will new materials be developed? Will they need to adapt to changes in the environment? Or will the pyramid start crumbling mid-construction?

The fate of the Zeitpyramide is as uncertain as our own future. It encourages us to wonder about the feasibility of long-term plans in the age of instant gratification.