We have seen them, we have loved them and we have even visited them. They might be coincidental or pure intention, but the staircases in these movies have lived in our hearts just as the movies have done. Some are supernatural, some are just unique forms of art while some are just downright memorable. Let’s have a look at staircases that Holywood made us remember for a very long time. It’s vital to warn you of spoilers ahead for any reader who has not watched these masterpieces!

1. Joker

This 2019 version of the famous DC Villain was beautifully portrayed by actor Joaquin Phoenix. So perfectly was this role done by Joaquin that it won him an Oscar for Best Lead. But that is not even the most memorable aspect of the film. In the movie, Joker is often seen going up and down the flight. But at the climax of the film, just after Joker kills some ‘friends’ of his in his apartment, he goes dancing down a flight of stairs. This 3-minute scene is so memorable that these stairs have become a phenomenon across many fans of the film. Located in the Bronx, New York City, The Joker Stairs have been visited by Joker fans from all over the world.

• Home alone

Kevin McCallister is one of the most famous movie characters of all time. In the famous blockbuster Home Alone, after he is left home alone while his family goes for a trip to Florida, he is seen sliding down the famous staircases. In the sequel, the ultimate battle royale is had at the staircase as Kevin sends cans of paint down the staircase to meet with the two thieves. This staircase has become so iconic in the home alone universe attaching itself to the film across multiple sequels.

• Harry Potter

Now when you want to talk about supernatural staircases, you cannot fail to mention the famous ones from Harry Potter: The Grand Staircase of Hogwarts. This staircase has an entire consciousness of its own as it assists professors and students to move throughout the institution. Well, we all do love and take care of our staircases but I’m pretty sure we would be quite scared if suddenly our staircases became ‘alive’. This uniqueness of this staircase has made it iconic in the entire Holywood film fraternity.

• Inception

Now that we are talking about supernatural staircases, we cannot fail to mention the never-ending staircases of 2008’s Inception. We all know the magic that is Christopher Nolan’s filmmaking. Referred to as The Penrose Stairs, these staircases sort of ‘multiply’ and ‘turn into themselves’ effectively never-ending. This staircase has become so crucial in Hollywood and the world over, that there are some technologists and architects trying to figure out how they can be designed.

• Titanic

Nothing revolutionary can be mentioned in Hollywood without James Cameron’s name. I mean, who still does not recognize the most specific and detailed yet highest-grossing filmmaker in Hollywood? Titanic was phenomenal and it cannot be mentioned without remembering The Grand Staircase of the RMS Titanic. This staircase was so grand that it is said to have inflated Titanis’s budget by a big chunk to recreate to Cameron’s specification. It is so significant throughout the film serving relevant purposes in almost all scenes with a deep thematic undertone.

As staircase lovers, we all notice beautiful or unique staircases wherever we go. Who knew Hollywood would impact the staircase universe in such a deep manner? One day, just one day maybe, there will be a film that will bring all staircases from different universes into one film. Now that will be a blockbuster to watch out for.

Take a moment and just think about a world without stairs. How would we go up surfaces? I mean, elevators are good for long distances, but the importance of stairs cannot be emphasized. They have become such a core part of life, from pre-modernity to the post-modernity technological world. Stairs have moved from just being assets of convenient ascent and descent to beauty points in homes- conveniently designed to bring out the ultimate sophistication and aesthetic value of a modern house.  It is with this in mind that we seek to give you a brief overview of how to make your home the ultimate space by having modern, convenient and stylistic stairs winding their way around your precious space.

Stairs for modern homes

We all want the very best stair designs for our homes. After taking up a mortgage or saving to construct a multistorey house, it is very vital to have a sitdown with your architect as well as an interior designer to decide on the stair design for your modern home. It is very vital to have these professionals as they will advise you on what is workable and not. Either way, here are a few recommendations for stair designs for modern homes:

• Glass Stairs

Modern staircase designs are increasingly using glass and wood as the primary material. These designs speak volumes in terms of class, sophistication, and modernity. With the right interior designer, glass and wood stairs are simply heavenly.

• Spiral Stairs

Spiral stairs do just that, spiral. They consume so much less space and are very appealing in terms of class. The stairs curve up as they go through every floor and usually have an extra design to give it extra aesthetic value.

• Floating Stairs

These are a modern design of staircases that ‘hang’. They not only save space but allow for light to flow better into the room and are a very classy design especially for small interior spaces.

• Ribbon Stairs

These stairs have a ribbon design that saves on space and gives it a modern feel. It is a very classy design as each staircase somewhat ribbons over the next therefore reducing vertical space by almost half.

Stairs for small spaces

It is very vital to consider the space you have in your house while you are designing the stairs. You must thus ensure that while designing your staircases, you consider space-saving measures. Here are ideas for the design of stairs for small spaces:

• Multipurpose stairs

These are stairs that could serve as other important household elements thereby hitting two birds with one stone. For instance, your stairs could also serve as drawers where you store your clothes. This will reduce the need for drawer construction as well and make use of the stair spaces.

• Pull-out stairs

These staircases, are pushable into the wall, or ceiling to create more space. Their design gives them a ‘foldable’ aspect which upon pushing, folds into a very compact structure. This works very well in minimizing the space needed to construct these stairs and in turn, also give it a very unique feel and look.

• Vertical stairs

These stairs are more vertical intensive than horizontal intensive i.e. the stairs design has emphasized horizontal ascent than a vertical room. This is a very good way to save space but requires extremely professional designers as any mishap would lead to a danger zone within the house. It saves space but it is vital to ensure you do not ignore the vertical vitality of staircases.

Many modern designs mentioned above also come in handy in small spaces such as the spiral, floating and ribbon designs mentioned above.

Stairs are used for varying purposes besides its primary use of helping in a vertical movement. Many other people nowadays design stairs for aesthetic value but one thing we can all agree on is ‘Stairs are the unrecognized superheroes in the house!’