Personal – Staircases and surfice

For a personal field project i set my mind in looking into staircases and their surface. Looking into how attract people to take stairs rather than a lift. Specially those people who has no other excuse for taking a lift than beings lazy. Students, are the ones who mostly take a lift even if they live on the first floor in their halls without any consideration of taking stairs. I had a talk with few of my classmates about their view and what do they choose to take, stairs or a lift in their halls. Many confirmed my theory that young people became slightly unaware that the stairs are always an option. Taking the stairs wasn’t much in consideration when the lift is right in front of you.
With a large numbers growing in obesity between young people, i would like to create with a possible solution that encourage people to take stairs instead of a lift. It is understandable if a person lives on the 10th floor and perhaps it is a bit hard to take stairs with all the shopping, but looking into the people who live on the 2nd or 3rd floor and takes a lift because it is there and because they cannot face the ”effort” to get to the 2nd floor.

So, what would attract people to take stairs in the city?

Looking into the surface of the stairs, and as i have discovered before mosaic is an old fashioned way to leave a mark more permanent and colorful which could work to attract people to the stairs.
But I am curious in other ways, perhaps more modern ways to enhelse the attraction to the stairs. Perhaps more interactive stairs that would attract people attention, or a statement about healthy living to attract attention about obesity issue in the world and the realization about the first steps in how to change the issue.
The most inspirational project for me is by Volkswagen company. They converted a set of steps at the Odenplan subway station in Stockholm into working piano keys.

Also there are few fab projects by Volkswagen company on that are absolutely brilliant and cleaver in how it works. Confirms the theory that everybody just want to have fun to highlight their day.
I am interested into interactive lighting a lot, even though I haven’t got a clue how it works or could be done. I am aware Arduino would be a big help i creating something like this:

I do believe interactive lighting stairs would be fun and it would attract people in taking stairs over the lift or escalator.

Also one of the best optical illusion staircases got to be this one 🙂 not so sure if that would encourage people going up the stairs but it is definitely an impressive piece of work.

Looking into Optical illusion is rather fun but definitely very confusing. I did conciser as i do believe it would attract attention to the staircase if some sort of image as an optical illusion apier on the stairs but i am more attracted to the idea of interactive lightening or sound.
However i do admire these steps in Bondi Beach, Australia by McCracken’s ‘Diminish and Ascend’ designed as part of the Sculpture By The Sea exhibition – See more at:
staircase australia

I am a big nature lover so I have this nature based staircase in the city in mind. In the city we don’t often get the fresh and exotic feeling, not so often see much of birds unless its pigeons and do not hear much of birds in general as the city noise is so loud.
What about if for a split second while someone walking up the stairs could receive that sort of emotion as being in the wild. Have the banisters weaved with leafs and flowers giving the natural feeling and an image on the surface of the stairs of the forest. The sound of the birds would activate with each step as going up.


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