I'm afraid of heights, ladders and open ledges. I've also been known to have a drink or two...or three. So, not for me!

You couldn't pay me to have an open staircase in my home. I hate heights, and especially steep staircases. Also, I hate to play the "won't somebody think of the children" card, but you have to admit that these staircases are highly impractical if you have or plan to have small children around.

Watch out for number 4 (and several others) if you're wearing a short skirt.

Some of these make no sense (9 & 10). Everything else is pretty cool, though if you're shoving books into the steps of a staircase, it's time to invest in a Kindle, or visit your local library.

Handrails are made for a reason and I never thought about the skirt wearing comment..good point.
Visually, they are beautiful, but as the post indicates, scary as well. I find the one with the glass partition would be my choice if I had to make one.

I love number 4! But because of the bookshelves that extend all the way up to the second floor. All these stairs scare me.

I think they look awesome! I really do, but I can already see my three year old flying off of them...
no thank you

You could not pay me enough to have one of those in my home. I hate the open staircase look. Never mind the function!

You know, I never use the railing when I go up a stair case but it's nice to know it's there.

Yeah right. I have a low center of gravity...what's the weight capacity on these, anyway?

We have open stairs, but the railing is still there (the planks you walk on are floating).

They are gorgeous, and a big reason why we bought our place. Every single person who comes over comments on how beautiful they are. They are just as functional as regular stairs, but take up WAY less visual space - important when you live in a smaller townhome in the San Fran area!

Nope. Don't like it.

I hope the homeowners have some cash set aside for the remodeling they'll have to do to bring their homes up to code in the event they want to sell.

If you can't design a proper handrail that meets code and contributes to the aesthetic, find a new profession.

I think these are all beautiful. The stairs to my sleeping loft most closely resemble #8. My son started climbing these stairs for midnight visits on his hands and knees at 18 months. He's 5 now and he's never shown the slightest wobble on the stairs. They have a very high rise to run ratio so we all go up on all fours and come down step by step on our tushes. Safer than the playground, I always say. Visitors always stands in front of the bookcase and ask how we get up to the loft.

The percentage of stair falls requiring ER visits that happened on stairways without handrails = HIGH. Stupid to sacrifice basic safety for an aesthetic call, especially when there's nothing aesthetically displeasing about most handrails. Would not have this in my home, ever.

oops # 7 -- my stairs.

Love it! Maybe when I add my second story to my home with my loads of money.... :) I like the staircases integrated with bookcases, especially the first one which is just too lovely. I think I would always opt for the handrail, though.

Feels like some of these aren't to code? Plus, I would worry that if I ever gained any weight I would go plummeting to the ground.

Children, senior citizens, drunk people, people with bad ankles/knees/hips, clutzes, people with limited vision, obese people. If you will never be one of these and will never invite such a person into your house, then knock yourself out.

I would totally get them so I wouldn't get stuck with kids at my house.

While several of these are beautiful, they are totally impractical. I can't imagine most pets would deal well with them either. I can just see my dog sliding off the side. A friend had a cat who would climb all sorts of things but was deeply suspicious of open backed stairs. Go figure. Also pity the person with some of these who sprains an ankle. Now there's nothing to hold onto.

For those concerned about the absense of a railing in some pictures, the architect/designer chose to photograph their design as they imagined it. It's definitely not up to code, and I'm sure many if not all of these have had some sort of handrail added shortly after the picture was taken.

That's just kind of lazy, though, CarmenJo. A good designer finds a solution that is not only practical but integrated, beautiful, and makes the entire design better.

It shouldn't be nuisance, it should be an opportunity to carry the design further.

Dogs are my people and I'm a naturally clumsy person,( I've fallen off of flip flops ) so this isn't for me but I think they're dreamy.

I love these and I'm a total safety-nazi.

3rd one looks the scariest.

Call me faint of heart. Just looking at these makes my palms sweaty.

lofts are tough...this is a beautiful mix of finishes!

I would not have a problem with any of these (some are visually more pleasing than others) as heights do not phase me out (in any basilica or cathedral, I will be always in the last spire and close to the railing). But I guess I probably could not have them in my home because in general, dogs are afraid of them (I think the non-existent risers are the issue) so it would not fly in my household.
I can also see that they may be dangerous as anyone can stumble and fall.

So cold. Brrrrrrrrr.......

In most of these, it's design over function. You have to be well balanced, not carrying anything unwieldy, wear grippy shoes and have lots of light to see by. They are great designs, especially the ones with the book cases (Kindles are for on the go reading, books are for curling up on the sofa with).

I love these. I have stairs like number 2 but with only one beam down the centre. And mine are a lot steeper (we live in an old victorian house in the UK). My dog and my 3.5 year old can manage these stairs without any problems. I can just about get down them in the middle of the night but they do take getting used to.

I find these all to be a bit terrifying, but it doesn't help that I have small children who stumble on regular (even carpeted) steps. I actually just did a humorous study of mid-century modern design elements that will kill or maim your children.... but really I find them all to be quite scary even for sure-footed adults: http://wp.me/p2UAi6-3C

Aesthetically beautiful but not worth the risk. I agree with overture--good design should take use into account. This is not "art for art's sake." Stairs serve a function...getting people safely from one floor to another. I cannot imagine going up or down any of these with a basket of laundry or a baby, or without my glasses and very slip-resistant shoes (the metal ones--scary). If they were only there to access a very seldom-used area of a home, maybe. But even once a day would drive me nuts.

While beautiful, some look pretty unnerving.

The first photo is gorgeous. The floating ones in the third picture are pretty incredible.

If I ever get married again, these might just be the ticket to preventing long visits from in-laws. Thank you AT!

I have vertigo so cannot install these--but I love the bare, clean look. And hope these homeowners have good insurance. ;)

These just remind me of this story from This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/395/middle-of-the-night?act=5#play

I honestly feel a bit sick just looking at them. I guess they are pretty, probably, but I find them very unattractive just from the instant relation between them and a skull smashing against concrete from an 8 foot fall. Ugh.

So want any of them except for #7. The books louse it up. The books in #4 are fine. If I were to be drunk enough, I'd just stay downstairs and still enjoy the cool factor.

Love this look! Although I'm not a fan of the ones with no rail, especially next to a white wall. People are going to have to balance themselves sometimes and leave a lovely black streak going up the wall.

OMG, someone else who has fallen off their flip flops! Hard to believe but it happens!

My husband is a high end staircase builder (see Seattle Stair & Design's website), and these definitely are not code. Nor are they particularly interesting designs. Good design is both bueatiful and life enhancing, not dangerous.

Would AT feature designs that neglect other life/safety basics?

As others have said, most of these would be dangerous, especially for children and dogs. It is crazy, and I would think against the law, to build a staircase with no rail. The fourth one has a minimalistic rail that children or dogs could easily fall through.

This type of staircase would make your house difficult to sell. Half the potential buyers would probably be afraid to use the stairs. If I was looking to buy a house and saw one of these I'd walk out immediately.

I'm pretty sure one can not built open stairs like those in Italy and have them approved. Here one need to follow specific rules (and laws) for safety, bot inside and outside the construction. They are for fire safety, injury, earthquake, chemical pollution, and so on. This remind me of one of my major "aesthetic frustrations" here in Italy, looking to US (and other abroad homes). We can not built houses with BIG windows (biger than a certain proportion with respect to the house volume) because it would give a waste of energy for heating.

Even though these are frustrating restrictions, I think they make very much sense if we want to be sensible, safe, green and so on :-)

I tend to trip more with stairs like these because I can stick my foot into each step further. I guess you build this if you want to discourage people from coming upstairs. I'd rather feature more inviting designs in my place.

I think more architects should work on making safety features more visually appealing. Make an attractive handrail in the bath tub, etc. We all get older and we all, for example, sprain ankles or throw out backs from time to time.

Moreover, I quote Cleogrrl and see that those stairs "are not code" (I understand they are not approved by law).

Like Cleogrrl, I hope that AT (which I LIKE A LOT!!!) would be careful with those aspects for more than one reason.

1. AT has a large audience and not everyone is necessarily informed about safety, and so AT can be a channel to improve a civil conscience about how to respect the right of people to be safe.

2. It is a major good characteristic of AT to give ideas and inspirations for real people to improve their house and they life. So it may be important to add some "caution label" to the not realistic pictures that are meant just to dream a bit.

I'd take #8 (in the right house) in a heartbeat -- It has the closed risers AND a safety rail (which is clear) -- total love! I like a lot of the others, too, but as a klutz, would worry...

The open risers don't bother me too much (though I think they are somewhat dangerous). But the lack of handrails and the open side(s) are too much. #3 is ridiculously dangerous.

Forget kids, old people, and klutzes---how do you lug a laundry basket up and down these things without sweating bullets?

Not having a railing is probably not legal in my area, but something no one seems to notice is the dirt dropping off between the open risers. My parents had stairs like that and the baby grand piano underneath, and it was always covered in dirt. I would never have them.

ditto to aaakid....we live and rent in Germany with 3 levels of stairs that are open (with safe rails!) and even though we (adults and kids) wear house shoes the dust and dirst that filters down is a daily drag. The bottom floor, of course, getting the brunt. Add our two cats and it is a chore. Some of the photos are next to bookcases and a dining room tables....what a mess! Looking forward to a home with "regular stairs" someday. Still the same mess but it is contained and easier to capture.

I don't know why everyone is fretting about the lack of rails and enclosure so much when 5 out of the 10 staircases shown do, in fact, have obvious handrails, and 2 more are enclosed. That leaves only 3 out of 10 with dangerous exposure (though I definitely agree that #3 is downright terrifying).

For people talking about mess between open risers... that seems odd to me (but I was raised to not wear shoes in the house).

Most of these appear lovely and functional. They look appropriately wide, not too steep, and balanced. I don't think the majority are design failures, and by my reckoning about half of them would pass many residential building codes without any additions.

I used to be afraid to walk up the stairs of apartment buildings that had openings between the steps. I'm getting sick just looking at these.

LOVE floating stairs. For whatever reason, my unit is the only one in my apartment complex with them, the rest have more traditional and closed in staircases, and it makes such a difference as far as atmosphere and a feeling of openness. Guests compliment them all the time. Mine has a handrail mounted to the adjacent wall and is plenty wide and I've never felt unsafe or scared. I haul things and run up and down them daily, and the cat has the time of her life climbing all over them and peeking out between them. Plus I love the little nook and extra space underneath. I do agree that these would definitely not be for a home with small children, though.

I think they look beautiful, but I am terrified to go down staircases with no railings. A friend of mine has a railing-less staircase to her basement, and I always end up holding onto the walls. So leaving aside the safety issue, no railing = handprints on your walls.

Considering my life consists of entertaining the elderly and small children (I have a large, extended family) these would be totally impractical in my home. However, they do look stylish- I wouldn't mind seeing this in someone else's home, though.

They are pretty to look at but they give me palpitations and sweaty palms (and not in a good way).

Not even at gunpoint.

Totally cool post! I'm not even going to read the other comments cause I'm not in the mood for a lot of screaming about "code" and "children." Scary, yes, but fascinating.

Agreed! Stairs might be my favorite design element of architecture. Nothing beats a sexy staircase in my mind! Drooling over 2, 5 and 7.

I think most of them are gorgeous. I'm a fairly clumsy person however, and I can imagine myself getting injured in a variety of ways on some of those staircases :)

I'm having trouble at the moment trying to find a simple and attractive railing design that actually meets code. The regulations in Australia are super tight - I know it's for a good reason, but it does seem to ever increasingly restrictive. Just about every single railing/balustrading design I see online or on TV doesn't meet the code (even many glass railings don't comply, particularly the frameless variety).

I'd like to see more well designed railings that are safe too. In the design world this should be seen as a major requirement and key challenge in designing balustrading and not something to ignore or add on after the 'pretty' photo has been taken.

The only staircase I would walk on is the white with the bookcase below, plus I love the way it looks!

Oh people! This is a display of some really interesting architecture that has been carefully written with a warning "Not for everyone!" and yet....

Enjoy seeing something new and different. It isn't all about you..:D

These stairs are great, I actually gasped at the beauty of pictures 4 and 6.
I am an adult, capable of being careful on stairs. I would love to have them.

Thanks AT for the interesting piece!

Wow! no doubt these floating stairs are very stylish but at the same time they are scary too for most of us, and dangerous for children.

Given my fear of heights, innate clumsiness and history with stairs, any of these in my home would be a guarantee of future broken bones.