Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Staircases: The Architecture of Ascent





Staircases: The Architecture of Ascent, with an introduction by Oscar Tusquets Blanca contains 236 beautiful images of unique staircases, many photographed specifically for this book. We are taken through the centuries and see architecture as varied as that of the ancient staircase of the Maya pyramid at Chichen Itza to The Baroque  Jordan staircase in The Winter Palace  at St. Petersburg to the stunning spiral at the Flemish Centre for Contemporary Art Glass in Lommel, Belgium.  A most informative tome on the significance of many grand staircases around the world.


The Navy (later renamed The Nelson Stair) Staircase at Somerset House in London designed by architect William Chambers. c.1775

One of the stunning cast-iron staircases in the State Law Library of Iowa in Des Moines. (1884)
The staircase of The Palazzo Canossa in Mantua, Spain was built in the 17th Century, then refurbished in 1779 by Paolo Pozzo. The statuary evoke the spirit of the Baroque.



Built by Edward Riedel, Christian Jank, and Georg Dollman, this is the stunning  staircase leading up to the apartments of Ludwig II of Bavaria at his castle in Neuschwanstein. The decorative details combine both the Gothic and the exotic. Designed by Julius Hofmann in 1881. 




This Art Nouveau staircase and entry detailed with mosaics, stone, and wood with exposed steel pillars is in a Victor Horta ( architect) townhome built for the Tassel family in Brussels.  (1892)  Classified in 2000 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site






I M. Pei's stunning staircase at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar (2008) 


This book is a must have on the holiday wish list for both men and women.
Authors: Oscar Tusquets Blanca, Martine Diot, Adelaïde de Savray, Jérôme Coignard, Jean Dethier

Copy courtesy of The Vendome Press  
Images courtesy of The Vendome Press


Thank you to my many readers who avidly support The Arts 

xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena

7 comments:

cath carbone said...

Très joli post!
Merci de ta visite et de tes gentils commentaires sur mes pages, Merci, bonne journée!

Splendid Market said...

Karena, what a spectacular find. A distinctive staircase can have such an impact in a home, building. These are stunning.

Burlap Luxe said...

Hi Karena, dear
M'y favorite is the staircase of Spain, all that natural stone feeling and statues of divine ness!
I adore your visits sweet beautiful friend, and admire how much support you give to the arts in blogging.
Thank you for always including me in on your beautiful visits, I adore you.

I hope health in all it's goodness has you at your best these days.

See you soon, looking forward to what you will be doing over the holidays.

Xoxo
Doré

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

Hi Karen, We have visited
Neuschwanstein and the staircase was gorgeous and my favorite part of the castle.
Hugs,
Sherry

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Good morning dearest Karena!

How I love a spiral staircase to amble down as if I were a queen - YES, I do walk in that way when I get myself on one of these magical stairways and everyone thinks I'm strange!

Lovely designs my dear and thank you so much for visiting. OH! Guess what? I sold my ballet tutu but was it every difficult to find a box so I could ship it!

Much love, Anita

Ann said...

Those are really dramatic staircases
love them.

Elizabeth at Eiffel Tells said...

I have always adored European staircases - perhaps because I come from a country with only a young architectural history (albeit an ancient indigenous history). My particular penchant is for ironwork balustrades.
Elizabeth xxx
(Sincere thanks for keeping in contact)._

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