It is hard to argue against codes like that protect against fires and help save lives or the Americans with Disabilities Act that has finally given equal access to millions. Yet, it is also hard to argue that the stair has been one of the most important elements in architecture over the centuries. Both, the fire codes and ADA put an end to that. Is there a chance the grand stair can have a revival?
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Maryland State House, Annapolis, MD: Imposing ascent
for citizens, lawmakers and lobbyists alike |
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Peabody Institute, Washington Square, Baltimore, MD
the entry to the famous library require climbing up to the
main floor level |
The role of the stair in architecture is one of procession, approach, ascension, arrival. Either when approaching a building from the outside or on the inside when more than one level need to be reached. An elevated building that requires climbing up to get to the front door instills respect, emanates power and slows entry, almost forcing the approaching person to look up and take in the facade propped on top of the plinth to which the stairs lead. Interior stairs connecting floors are a more subtle affair. Opening floors to each other allows glimpses of what is still mostly hidden above, slowly expanding views which grow with each step that is taken on a grand stair, a procession which has been orchestrated masterfully by many architects in history. As Christopher Alexander put it in his seminal book "Pattern Language":
"A staircase is not just a way of getting from one floor to another. The stair itself is a space, a volume, a part of the building...a place where someone can make a graceful or dramatic entrance...People coming down the stair become part of the action in the room while they are on the stair." Indeed, external and internal stairs are crucial in creating "wow" effects when experiencing great architecture. Stairs are complex and have vexed many students of architecture because they defy the simple reduction into plan and section which does just fine for many other parts of building design.