Design Stories 2.02

The Soraya Stairs

Stairs are a gestural architectural device that tells the visitor that they are rising to a higher plane both physically and mentally. Grand stairs traditionally lead us up to an institution—whether of higher learning, of the government, or of culture. Today with our mandated need for accessibility, stairs have been replaced by sloped planes, elevators and ramps. Lost is the emotive power of the staircase.

Yet in theaters, a building type that necessitates multiple levels, we can embrace them with delicious abandon. For The Soraya, the grand lobby stair is actually a cantilevered cast concrete arc that reaches to the parterre. Patrons parade up and down, every step noted by a glass railing panel, mimicking the individualization of the stone floor tiles and staccato ceiling panels.

Yet my favorite stair is the triangulated stair tucked into the theater block. Its triangular configuration somehow recalls the Penrose stairs or impossible staircase famously drawn by M.C. Escher. That stair where one never goes up nor down, in constant movement to no where.