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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.