ABSTRACT
Beyond the simple function of providing inter-level access, this chapter illustrates how the thoughtful design of stairs can have a significant and positive impact on human and planetary health and well-being. Increasing stair use requires good design: stairs need to be visible and accessible, they need to be wide enough and comfortable enough for many people to use them, and often using simple design interventions – from messaging, painting, posters, signs, footprint outlines, and decals on stairs themselves – can transform mundane stairs into a more remarkable experience. Making the design of stairs playable can help encourage movement and physical activity, thus contributing to a salutogenic environment, while considering how they are manufactured and constructed can enhance environmentally sustainability. As many buildings and public spaces have stairs, this chapter documents some of the many possibilities for redesigning these often over-looked elements to be more remarkable.
Staircases can be glamorous and theatrical … if designed well. Think of the symmetrical grand staircase in the extravagant Butler mansion in Gone with the Wind, or the magical moving staircase in Hogwarts Castle in the Harry Potter movies and books. Stairs offer a chance for a different perspective, looking up or down, and help create interest in a space. They can provide a way for us to challenge ourselves physically, as with Rocky Balboa running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art, or creatively, as in M.C. Escher's famous lithograph, Relativity. In the right context, staircases can provide a social space. Think of the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy that connects the Piazza di Spagna with the Piazza Trinità dei Monti, with numerous places to sit and people watch. And of course, you cannot read a chapter on stairs without recognising their pop culture symbolism and meaning, as demonstrated by Led Zepplin's 1971 song Stairway to Heaven, and the 1970s British television drama, Upstairs, Downstairs.
