June 2011

The classic Spanish Steps . The opulent Paris Opera House stairscase. Machu Picchu’s endless stone steps ascending to the clouds. Michelangelo’s legendary Laurentian Library stairway. Throughout history, moving up or down within a building or in a built landscape has been an architectural opportunity for both beauty and function.  

While current residential codes, of very specific dimensions and clearances, require that staircases have treads (where the foot lands), risers (the vertical support) and railings (hand support), they can come in many forms from slim and straight to wide and winding and everything in between.  

There are many different kinds of staircases. Here is a list of some of the most common:

1)      Straight run staircase – A straight stairway can come in the three different forms: top to bottom in a straight line, L shaped or T shaped.

2)      Scissor staircase – A scissor stair is a set of 2 interlocking stairways providing two separate paths, but located within one stairwell enclosure.

3)      Spiral staircase - A spiral staircase coils around on a fixed axis, often a floor to ceiling pole.

4)      Winding staircase – A winding stair curves and turns many times in many directions.

5)      Circular staircase – A circular staircase curves with one continuous radius, and often is refered to as sweeping staircase.

6)      Elliptical staircase – An elliptical staircase curves with multiple radiuses to fit inside an elliptical. They start with a very tight radius and go to a wider radius and back to a tight radius again.

Stairs and staircases can be as beautiful and creative as they are utilitarian. For example, the Longchamp retail store in New York City features a singular, sculptural grand stairway comprised of steal and leather ribbons that create a fluid upward mobility, unlike any traditional stairwell. 

Whether a landmark positioned in a large public space that invites people to gather, or a feature in the intimacy of one’s own home that leads to another floor, new scenery or a secret room, stairs are practical and aesthetic sculptures that can add an important dimension to any architectural experience.  

So before you climb, skip, jump, hop or step up your next flight of stairs, consider the movement steps both create and invite.