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Posts Tagged ‘Staircase’

A Few Steps Higher: 14 Unusually Artistic Modern Staircase Designs

11 Sep

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

Stairs are inherently utilitarian, but some architects choose to really step up their interiors with highly sculptural designs that make you want to walk up and down a bunch of times. Cantilevered creations, floating stairs, spirals made of stone and zig-zagging graphic designs add both literal and figurative movement to these apartments, museums, offices and shops.

Stone and Wire in London by Groupwork + Amin Taha

During the completion of a renovation on a terraced house in central London dating to the 1950s, Groupwork + Amin Taha created a gorgeous centerpiece with this stone staircase, spiraling around a central cylinder-shaped wire cage, which acts as a balustrade. The load-bearing cantilevered travertine staircase extends from the basement to a skylight in the apartment’s roof.

Atrium Stairs at Moscow’s Dominion Office Building by Zaha Hadid

There’s something very futuristic-looking about the stark, graphic black-and-white stairs zig-zagging through the atrium of Zaha Hadid’s ‘Dominion Office Building.’ Each level is slightly offset from the next, producing a disorienting effect when looking down at the stairs from the edge of any of the balconies.

Mirrored Staircase at Kaleidoscope House by Paul Raff Studio

Sometimes, all it takes is a little creativity to produce a stunning effect, rather than a large space and expensive materials. The staircase ascending through Paul Raff Studio’s Kaleidoscope House features mirrored side panels on the balustrade which continue onto the landings of each level, reflecting each other so you can’t quite tell what’s real and what’s reflection. This piece is the heart of the home’s ‘kaleidoscope effect.’

Plywood Puzzle Stairs in London House by Tsuruta Architects

This staircase in a London Home renovated by Tsuruta Architects consists of nearly 2,000 plywood pieces slotted together like a puzzle. Replacing a larger staircase with a more compact design, this new creation connects all four stories without visually obstructing the transitional spaces between them, allowing light to filter through.

Smooth Staircase at Singapore Apple Store by Foster + Partners

It’s not unusual for Apple stores in larger cities to function as showcases for architecture nearly as much as they do for electronics. In this case, internationally renowned firm Foster + Partners augmented “the greenest Apple space yet” with two hand-carved spiraling staircases made of Italian Castagna Stone. The architects describe them as “warm and beautifully sculpted bookends” in an “homage to craftsmanship and materiality.”

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A Few Steps Higher 14 Unusually Artistic Modern Staircase Designs

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Scaffolding Staircase: Huge Steps to Rise from Rotterdam Plaza

18 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

urban staircase

A temporary installation to commemorate the rebuilding of the city after the second world war, this massive staircase made from scaffolding will lead visitors up onto a postwar structure in the heart of Rotterdam.

scaffolding staircase close up

Standing 60 feet high, the staircase of the 180 steps end on top of the Groot Handelsgebouw, an early building from the postwar construction effort that began 75 years ago. Dubbed simply The Stairs, this project by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV will also involve film screenings and events on the rooftop.

central station rotterdam

If the resulting temporary roof-topping venue is sufficiently popular, a more permanent means of access may replace the temporary stairs.

mvrdv market hall

Other temporary and permanent architectural and urban design projects are also being developed and opened as part of the 75th-year commemoration (above: Market Hall with digital mural by MVRDV)

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Branch Up: Modular Spiral Staircase Wraps Trees for Climbing

01 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

canopy tree staircase addition

Providing an elegant, robust, accessible and tree-friendly alternative to ladders or branches for climbing trunks, this spiral step solution lets you scale trees without harming them.

canopy spiral staircase desgin

Developed by Thor ter Kulve and Robert McIntyre, the CanopyStair uses lightweight birch plywood, adjustable ratchet straps for leveling on uneven trunks and neoprene padding for soft contact points with the tree itself.

canopy stairs from above

As the creators of this system point out, tree canopies are some of the least-explored places on Earth, in some ways as mysterious as the deep oceans or outer space.

canopy steps from below

canopy steps closeup

The design was inspired in part by a stay off the coast of Portugal in a place with high walls blocking views. The designers found themselves turned into tree climbers in an effort to get a better look at the surrounding vista, then trying to figure out a way to take that approach to the next level, so to speak.

tree canopy staircase context

A curved top tread, wooden poles and plastic guidelines all help make the experience smooth and straightforward, letting those who may not normally be able to scale trees still climb them. The team also consulted arboriculturalists to make sure their approach would not damage or harm the trees being employed. The system takes a few hours to set up and as little as 30 minutes to deconstruct.

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Hybrid Desk & Storage Rise Up to Meet Suspended Staircase

06 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

steel wood staircase design

Playing tricks on the eye, this split-style stairway merges a desk and storage below with a framework of steps hanging down from above, all with a daunting-looking gap left in the middle.

steel busy staircase use

steel steps top view

steel wood hanging steps

Dutch designer Mieke Meijer hand-crafted this hybrid interior system for the home of Just Haasnoot in The Hague, inspired in part by the black and white photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

steel wood open desk

steel wood skylight chair

The frame-based structure was made to save space and maintain a sense of openness. The unfolding angular geometries add elements of visual interest to a toned-down space while accommodating various storage surfaces, nooks and crannies.

steel wood steps risers

steel wood alternating design

The use of alternating steps allows for a steep incline to be safely traversed, though some might still question the absence of a hand rail (which would be mandated by building code in most locations).

steel wood back view

steel window sill sitting

steel stairs design framework

This approach seems particularly well-suited to places with less-used upstairs spaces – as the photographs show, it would be easy to let certain steps simply become shelves most of the time, then be cleared off when guests come to stay in the spare attic bedroom.

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Living Staircase: Spiral Stairs Wrapped in Organic Greenery

21 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

living stairs viewing platform

Boldly curved and cantilevered into midair, these plant-wrapped stairs are designed to provide more than just a means of moving from one floor to another.

living steps atrium view

Stepping onto them takes occupants temporarily away from concrete floors and columns, then into and through a unique miniature ecosystem of warm and living materials.

living staircase concrete floors

This staircase by Paul Cocksedge for the Ampersand building in London is punctuated by platforms overlooking a central atrium.

living steps top floor

These circular areas act as impromptu self-contained break and gathering spaces removed from the bustle of each main office floor.

living hand rail supports

Standing out not just physically but also materially, the lively-grained wooden curves are bedecked with thin stem-like strands of white metal. In turn, these support planters that supplant the role of traditional hand rails while still providing physical and psychological safety and support.

living stairs axon drawing

Each set of stairs is supported by the floors themselves, thus rendered structurally independent of a more ordinary central-column approach.

living steps design diagram

living steps upper level

Further interactivity is woven into the biological side of the design in the form of herbs that employees can nurture, grow and ultimately pluck from the rails, facilitating a sort of in-office garden and adding a bit of mint to their tea or spice to their lunch.

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Little & Local: Staircase Cinema & Sidewalk Library Projects

25 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

small local installation projects

Public art used to be synonymous with huge and impersonal and location-agnostic sculptures made of metal and marble. Countering that classic Modernist trend are installations like this pair: a set small, site-specific and community-oriented design-build projects located in Auckland, New Zealand, and New York City, New York, respectively.

small sidewalk stairway cinema

First, from Oh No Sumo (images by Simon Devitt), the Stairway Cinema, a sheltered spot for watching movies on steps rising right off the sidewalk and open to pedestrians passing by. Public participants are invited to curate the collection of films shown on the screen.

small movie theater stall

About its creators and inspiration: “Our ongoing goal is to experiment with architecture and the way it can engage with the public in unique and exciting ways. This project takes inspiration from the site and its inhabitants. The intersection of Symonds Street and Mount Street is a place of ‘hard waiting’. Bus stops and laundromats create a hard-scape of poor space for social interaction.”

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29 Stunning Staircase Images

14 Dec

Scala

There is something about a good staircase that seems to draw photographers to shoot it. Perhaps it’s the repetition and patterns in the steps or it could be the geometric shapes that often appear around them. Whatever it is – staircases present some cool possibilities when you’re out shooting so keep your eye open for them. Here are a few to get you thinking about how to photograph staircases.

Staircase Texture

Well the Ocean Took My Baby

Double Helix

Stairway to...

Footprints

arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942

A Mirror on the Ceiling

leisure time.

Da geht mir ein Licht auf - enlightenment

098/365 - ALONE

dark clouds and a staircase

Green

I believe I can fly........

Interior Architecture of the Deutsches Museum II

Organ staircase Saint Mary's Studley Royal, Yorkshire UK

Reflection and Shadow - Spiral Staircase

The Lobby stairs  ::

Staircase

Black Madonna Stairs, Prague

Steps

Up

nightcrawler

The colors of life

wishbone spiral

When a Girl goes Down the Staircase

6 Stunden Berlin | Niere/Ohr

Paranoid

Oyonnax revisited

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

29 Stunning Staircase Images


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