WEIGHTLESS
This existing prefabricated staircase is made out of iron and wood, with very narrow and very deep treads: It’s therefore a rather inconvenient and dangerous one to use but the fact it only takes up very little space it’s actually quite appropriate for reaching an attic like area which isn’t used so very often.
However, if the place needs to be turned into an attractive living space inside an apartment the staircase would need to be transformed into something rather more aesthetically pleasing and more practical to walk up.
To increase the number of steps a few extra steps made out of concrete were added at the bottom of the new staircase which is made out of thin folded sheets of metal which have been brushed and treated with a transparent and protective paint to maintain its gloss. Since this finishing surface is quite delicate, the actual treads are made of oak, the same wooden floorboards (parquet) used to cover both in the living room downstairs and upstairs rooms.
The staircase is without any railing: the vertical elements are cables, which hold up the staircase, and which are attached to the metallic framework that surrounds the perimeter of the staircase which itself is joined to the these upward rods via these triangular shaped joints.
Siena, 2003
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