apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Makes for a cool photo, but that's not the sole or most important characteristic of good design....not in my book in any case, for reasons that are apparently verboten to articulate today. : ) So... Build it if you must, take your photo op, and rip 'em out, IMO.

i would totally hit my shins on that

SWOOOOOOON.

Oh! My feet would be all topsy turvy on those steps!

good heavens, this seems like a injury or death waiting to happen.

Bump up your spousal life insurance for the win.

yes, it makes for a good photo-op.

i think i would either fall through and really hurt myself, or be unable to look at it as it would mess with my head.

Left foot white, right foot black, left foot white, right foot black....

When did we starting issuing orders about what we may comment on? Pfft.

I'm going with the masses on this one- those do not look stable enough to hold the weight of the avg adult. they would make a great bookshelf.

I see no point in posting picutres which will OBVIOUSLY elicit certain discussion only to demand that that discussion NOT happen.

Beautiful but dangerous.

No comment.

"Oh wow - what amazing stairs!!" Is that all we're allowed to post?

Yeah, given the new guidelines, I guess I have no comment either.

Yet again, the slinky has met a new challenge! (insert suspenseful music here)

Cute...
erm...
makes me dizzy looking at photo.

Dun want to 'magine climbing. nononono.

The handrail is a cute concept too.
But that doesn't make me dizzy.

Luckily, I don't have any kids, have never been to another country, and only have one arm anyway.

Apart from 1,2,3,and 4 already stated in the article, I think this is a very nice staricase. Good use of the material. Double contrasting color brings out the form even better. A blow to the ease of production, I know, but how about taking this a step further and making the curvatures slightly different from each other (a ribbon would not necessarily unfold in a regular mathematical form)?

Nice job.

PS: I hope you used non-slip paint.

I read the rules. I don't care.

I don't see how something that is unsafe and intended to make you feel uncomfortable is in any way good design for a functional part of a home. I don't think these are cool - I think they're arrogant and elitist.

Yeah, if all you want is eye-candy, I guess it's fine. Not really my taste, though, in large part because good design is about a great deal more than how something looks. A staircase that you can't safely carry a basket of laundry down, and your aging dog can't climb, isn't a good design and doesn't belong in the house of anyone who isn't young, rich, able-bodied, and expecting to stay that way forever.

Almost as cool as the skateboard stairs. I like.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/look/look-skateboard-stairs-062023

those stairs are terrifying

The stairs are scary but not as disappointing as the orders of what we aren't allowed to talk about. This is a blog that allows comments from its registered members and these members are the ones you owe for the success of the blog. Putting such rigid constraints on our opinions is extremely ungrateful and off putting. Keep that up and I don't think you'll have to worry about how people comment at all.

And I suppose this comment will be deleted.

So many people posting negative things about something they know nothing about.

Unless you often suddenly faint (in which case you shouldn't be on stairs anyway) these are not dangerous. They are likely stronger than most wood staircases. And they are perfectly legal for single family homes pretty much anywhere (including the US).

"Arrogant and elitist" says the commenter who will never come across these stairs and if he/she did, certainly wouldn't be forced to use them.

Not my style, but interesting nonetheless...

...now that wall-mounted handrail - That's something that looks like it would be a great fit in many lofts.

trippy.


ba-dum chhhh......

Somehow this makes me think of something out of Alice In Wonderland, modern day version.

I'd be interested to know how exactly these hold weight. I'm always curious about how stuff works.

They are beautiful, but they also look like a good way to break an ankle, especially near the wall where there appears to be a gap between the upper stair and lower stair.

The only elitist aspect of the stairs is that it forces you to walk up it in a prescribed order like any skip step stair but not saving as much space.

I think the point about the comments is to try to get people to get over their pre-conceived notions of what things "should" be and see what they could be. 20 non-engineers and non-architects commenting on the structural and code issues of the stairs is a waste of time. The point is they look effortless and weightless and the commenters don't believe it can be real but it is. 10mm steel is just under half and inch. This is probably "safer" than the all glass stairs that most people have probably experienced at apple stores (and made it out alive)

Definitely interesting and fun to look at, but functional? Doubtful.

Imaginative, but impractical. Perhaps the same concept could be workable, but not this one. They look great for going up, but going downstairs in the middle of the night would prove a challenge.

Sorry, didn't see the guidelines. These stairs are marvy.

these really don't look any more hazardous than the floating cement stairs going up to my apartment.. or the basement stairs that don't have a back on them. or hey, a spiral staircase, which is the epitome of unsafe, yet very common.


and how the fuck can stairs be arrogant and/or elitist? seriously. are these stairs telling you that you're too poor to hang out with them?

.. naysayers.

practical or not, i think it's super clever. I did not wake up this morning thinking that I'd get thrown off by a flight of ribbon staircase...

i think there amazing!!!!

guidelines or not i think there amazing!!!

i'm sure they would cost an arm and leg, but if i had the money i would most certainly put some in!

and then after paying that much for them, the 2nd handrail wouldnt matter... right 'home body' ;)

I found these stairs dangerous-looking not because I doubted their ability to support a person's weight, but because the treads don't come out from the wall perpendicularly. Step 1 (at bottom) is forward at the left, Step 2 is forward at the right, Step 3 left, Step 4 right, etc...making for different distances you'd have to place your foot forward in order to land it square in the middle of the next tread. I trust these steps to hold me and a friend, strength-of-materials-wise.... I also trust that it wouldn't take too long before someone going up or down them while thinking other thoughts would put a foot through the riser area and snap an ankle or a leg. And not, fwiw, have a railing to break their fall if they happened to topple to the right.

I don't see it as elitist, personally. Just treacherous for those of us who are not always moving at a measured, contemplative pace.

"So many people posting negative things about something they know nothing about. "

"Unless you often suddenly faint (in which case you shouldn't be on stairs anyway) these are not dangerous. They are likely stronger than most wood staircases. And they are perfectly legal for single family homes pretty much anywhere (including the US). "

(I have decided I don't care about the "rules" for this post, either.)

Well, there are building codes, to start with. I'm not so sure they would pass in MY town, having met the inspector who decides these things.

People like me with handicaps would have trouble maintaining balance on the skip step approach (of any design) and also need hand rails on both sides. I also could not carry anything up or down stairs like this -- I need to rest both feet firmly on one plane when carrying anything, and my sense of balance is terrible. If I swayed toward the open side, I'd fall. Which, pardon me, is dangerous. Also there is no place off to the side to rest what I am moving, if I need to. So they are inconvenient, too.

It is hard to tell what the rise is on these steps, but they look dangerous for small kids, who would put a foot through the emptiness. (Have you ever WATCHED a young child climb steps??)

Elderly people with canes??

Hale and hearty adult people with no mobility difficulties and the requisite budget and architecture would probably find these fine to live with. As I said before, I think they are beautiful. Like a wonderful sculpture. Just don't be cavalier about how safe something is unless you take into account people unlike yourself, who have different issues to live with. (And opinions to voice.)

I just wish they had a photo of a person actually using the stairs. Or better yet, a video. Maybe it's because I'm not an architect or a designer, but I can't quite visualize climbing these and I'd like to see that.

The choice of photos serves to remove the stairs further from the realm of reality. Maybe that's intentional, to highlight the aesthetic design elements. But I'd be much more interested in the juxtaposition of the abstract concept of the stairs with the reality of their functionality. To me, that seems like both a more interesting way to think about them and a better way to judge them.

@Sherry
"Just don't be cavalier about how safe something is unless you take into account people unlike yourself, who have different issues to live with."

This is a single family residence. The owners have decided they have no issues with simply paying attention to which foot to place on the first step. I imagine after a few days, it will be second nature and they won't have to think about it at all. I guess they won't be having any elderly guests with canes upstairs.

Of course if this were in a public or commercial building, it would be very insensitive and certainly wouldn't pass building code. Private single family residence, you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as structural, mechanical, and electrical codes are met.

Wow, I think the only thing more tedious than reading a bunch of comments about code infractions and child killing stairs is all the whining about being asked to focus your comments away from a couple predictable, boring subjects.

During a class once the topic of safety came up when discussing Koolhaas's Maison à Bordeaux- how did the owner's kids not fall off the stairs into the hole for the platform? The instructor replied, fairly surprised, "I grew up in a Third World country. We just learned to stay away from the edge."

Have always found this helpful when talking about things like this stair (which I think is pretty amazing, but wouldn't personally want, btw)

I think the comment restrictions were there because any non standard staircase posted here gets the SAME COMMENTS. I know, I know.. but think of the children(!!!).

Well, screw the children (as my dear mom would always say, only slightly tongue-in-cheek). I'll take interesting design any day of the week. And if you don't like 'em, well you don't have to build 'em in your suburban tract home.

This post has been pure entertainment! Thanks everyone.

Wow! Its really interesting how negative and nasty people can get over creativity. I'd say they are quite lovely and would have no issue climbing them. I'd love them in my own home.
I suppose I'm "arrogant and elitist".

Love these stairs! What an exciting design! For me, it's like seeing a gorgeous pair of 5 inch high heels-who cares if you can walk in them, they are just beautiful. Ditto for the stairs. They are beautiful. Who cares if I can walk up them. LOL!

I guess single-family houses never get sold, or have owners who age or develop mobility issues, or have parents, grandparents, or other mobility-restricted people visit?

Nothing elitist about those assumptions at all, really. But looks are all that matter, and we mustn't say anything negative if it looks cool.

i want escalator versions of these off the wall stairs!

Liddybird, trying to imagine these stairs as as escalator made my eyes cross and my head hurt :)

So, AT, was the restrictions on comments a deliberate ploy to get more comments? Or did it just work out that way?

This design makes me feel...um...easy!

I would fall...

to those ppl who left negative comments, how old are yous?

One always could have a second staircase for use... and have the landing on the top of this staircase walled off... a "Staircase to Nowhere".

Great sculture! Great new status symbol! Then call it "Vintage" or by some other faddy name and everyone will be adding one.

Ahh! Prague, Prague, Praha, Cesky Repubicka... Isn't that the name of some themepark?

Chzplz,

I would have thought stairs, like most architecture, is an area where one would like elitism to operate. Or would you prefer to have your house designed by a committee of populist nincompoops?

Given that the obverse of elitism is communism, I'm mystified why so many Americans think of it as pejorative.

I cannot imagine an elderly person navigating this one well. Hopefully, this did not violate any of the rules on posts.

More importantly, the whole notion of censoring acts as catalyst to get people to focus on the censor's taboo subject. Just post the pics that you deem valuable, useful, and beautiful. Let us enjoy and comment as we will.

To those who like this because it is interesting or creative:

Architecture is not like an oil painting where you can do whatever you want and express yourself.

The primary criteria is that architecture has to work. Doesn't matter how beautiful it is if a roof leaks, or a wall collapses, or you fall off the stairs.

If it isn't functional and practical, you're not an architect, you're just a sculptor.

In these photographs, the steps look narrower than average ones. I wonder if people with large feet would feel comfortable walking up or down these stairs and having a lot of their foot hanging off into the air.

I also have to come down on the side of the silly, practical people. Design without adequate attention to function is poor design. These stairs are not exactly elitist (except for the price tag), but they would not work for the majority of the population. In that way, they remind me of some really outrageous (but fabulous) haute couture: looks good on models, but hardly anyone else can actually wear it.

I really dislike the zigzagging lines. I'm not a slave to convention, but I like the parallel lines created by typical staircases.

Love these. Let's see to be functioning stairs you need to be able to walk up and down them and guess what you can do that with these. There is a hand rail so I don't know why people are getting their panties in a bunch. it's an interesting design and certainly adds far more than an ordainary staircase would.

I don't give a damn about supposed 'rules' about what we're allowed to say or not. LAst time I checked, this was a forum designed to allow people to express their ideas. And not just so we could self-congratulate and walk in lockstep with one another.

What a load of shite those 'regulations' are.

Stairs look intriguing; also look highly impractical and scare the crap out of me.

oh, and having fallen down a number of sets of narrow, nineteenth century Dutch stairs in my lifetime...mostly in my early twenties, at the peak of my physical fitness, and never while drunk...I think I know of what I speak. (type in 'dutch narrow stairs' on google image search and you'll see what I mean).

I don't care how 'creative' something is if it's not going to be practical.

Screw the instructions of what we can and can't say. Sure, these are legal and up to code, and they're in a private residence, but if people are opening up their private residence to have photographs printed publicly, I'm going to say that it's selfish and ableist to have things like this in your home.

Unless you're some kind of asshole who only hangs out with people who meet some set of very narrow standards, you certainly have plenty of friends, relatives, and coworkers who are older, have kids, or have disabilities. "Well, sure, you'd be welcome to stay with me while you're in town, but there's no way you could get up to the bedrooms. Hopefully you have another friend nearby whose head isn't up their ass. Maybe we could just get coffee?"

I also feel free to point out sexist, racist, and homophobic attitudes when they're aired somewhere that's un-private enough that I become aware of them. Ableist attitudes are no different. This person has deliberately chosen to have something in their house that a good chunk of people can't use, rather than the default fixture that most (but not all) people can use.

I think it would be fun if you could take the black and make it striped with black/silver... now that would be "trippy" in the words of liddybird's comment! By the way... if this is someone's home in Prague.... (maybe this is a stupid question), where's some furniture, or artwork?

If not for the prohibition of the blogger, I would write that have personal knowledge of architectural code in a foreign country, and for the safety of children, the lack of a second handrail is an indication of how uneasy this design makes you feel. But, I know.... Sorry, WE know that all interesting stair posts receive a percentage of each kind of comments and we already know all of these things but we just like to look and...

Thanks, eeka!

Interesting...but I would have to ask that the treads where you are actually supposed to put your feet, be painted a special color so you don't have to walk up or down always thinking, OK, here's where I step next, here's where I step next...

They really are pretty neat--I think at the minimum they cast an interesting shadow. Also, that gray strip on the wall seems like a handrail--so I think that they might be semi-safe to climb on.

Very cool indeed!!!!!

So incredibly cool and innovative. far less dangerous than the hi-rise stairs I've got - any idea how much a set of these would cost??? Can you even buy them?