WEBVTT

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I think stairs may be

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one of the most emotionally
malleable physical elements

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that an architect has to work with.

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[Small thing. Big idea.]

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[David Rockwell on
the Stairs]

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At its most basic, a stair is a way
to get from point A to point B

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at different elevations.

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Stairs have a common language.

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Treads, which is the thing
that you walk on.

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Riser, which is the vertical element
that separates the two treads.

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A lot of stairs have nosings
that create a kind of edge.

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And then, the connected piece
is a stringer.

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Those pieces, in different forms,
make up all stairs.

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I assume stairs came to be
from the first time someone said,

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"I want to get to this higher rock
from the lower rock."

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People climbed
using whatever was available:

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stepped logs, ladders

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and natural pathways
that were worn over time.

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Some of the earliest staircases,
like the pyramids in Chichén Itzá

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or the roads to Mount Tai in China,

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were a means of getting
to a higher elevation,

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which people sought
for worship or for protection.

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As engineering has evolved,
so has what's practical.

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Stairs can be made
from all kinds of material.

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There are linear stairs,
there are spiraled stairs.

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Stairs can be indoors,
they can be outdoors.

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They clearly help us in an emergency.

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But they're also a form of art
in and of themselves.

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As we move across a stairway,

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the form dictates our pacing,
our feeling, our safety

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and our relationship and engagement
with the space around us.

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So for a second, think about stepping down
a gradual, monumental staircase

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like the one in front
of the New York Public Library.

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From those steps,

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you have a view of the street
and all the people around you,

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and your walk is slow and steady
because the tread is so wide.

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That's a totally different experience

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than going down the narrow staircase
to, say, an old pub,

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where you spill into the room.

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There, you encounter tall risers,
so you move more quickly.

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Stairs add enormous drama.

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Think about how stairs
signaled a grand entrance

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and were the star of that moment.

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Stairs can even be heroic.

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The staircase that remained standing
after September 11th

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and the attack on the World Trade Center

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was dubbed the "Survivors' Staircase,"

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because it played such a central role
in leading hundreds of people to safety.

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But small stairs
can have a huge impact, too.

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The stoop is a place
that invites neighbors to gather,

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blast music, and watch the city in motion.

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It's fascinating to me that you see people
wanting to hang out on the stairs.

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I think they fill
a deeply human need we have

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to inhabit a space
more than just on the ground plane.

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And so if you're able to sit
halfway up there,

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you're in a kind of magical place.