Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Few elements within the build environment command our attention as do stairs, stairways, and stairwells, or their mechanical counterparts, escalators and elevators. As sculptural forms, they bring order to grand and humble spaces, from the grand Jordan Staircase in the Winter Palace to the basement stairs of a New York tenement. As conveyances they gently lower us into the Louvre in Paris or speed us through the myriad levels of the Moscow Metro. They visually and literally usher us through space and time. The author is a designer and an artist. This study tracks his creative efforts focusing on our uses of, and expectations concerning stairs and stairwells. His artwork has evolved from documenting spaces and objects, to creating site-specific installations, to making multi-media objects. His creative work has moved from capturing and presenting realistic images to taking objects out of context and digitally morphing them into surrealistic settings. He pays particular attention to the act of peering over handrails, looking into the depths of stairwells, and experiencing unexpected events. The work discussed here has been included in juried and invited exhibitions and represented in private and public collections.