If you pay attention to the spatial
journeys you take when you use
stairs, you'll notice that some trips
are exciting and pleasurable, while
others are drudgery. In this article,
I want to focus on the design of
stairs as spatial elements, rather
than as machines for getting from
floor to floor. The focus is on
small homes, not ones with grand
stair halls.
The Importance of Openness
If there is one rule to follow in
stair design, it is to keep the stair
open on one or more sides. I have a
theory as to why this is important:
In a stair enclosed on both sides,
you feel you are walking through a
tilted tube from one