Staircases
Subtitle: the architecture of ascent
By: Oscar Tusquets Blanca and four others
Publisher: Vendome Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780865653092
Subjects: Staircases; Stairs; History
Other titles: Escalier. English.
Description: "The essential purpose of a staircase is utilitarian: to facilitate ascent and descent. Yet the design of even the simplest stair is complex, requiring great knowledge, skill, and ingenuity. This volume showcases the astonishing diversity of staircases over the centuries, from the stepped pyramids of the Maya to the exquisitely proportioned stairs of the Renaissance, to the elaborate balustraded confections of the Baroque period, to the virtuosic, computer-aided designs of today"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Translated from French.
Table of contents: title: Requiem for the Staircase : introduction / Oscar Tusquets Blanca; title: A Lesson in Architecture : 1100-1600 / Martine Diot; title: A Theatre of Power : 1600-1800 / Adélaïde de Savray; title: The Apotheosis of Ornament : 1800-1900 / Jérôme Coignard; title: From Art Nouveau to the Present Day : 1900-now / Jean Dethier.