The stairway to nowhere
Stairs exist since mankind builds. The staircase is a constant architectural element that has not changed much in thousands of years. The staircase is fully developed. There is no room for improvement. The staircase has experienced less innovation than the wheel. There also is not much space for innovation. The staircase consists of a stable surface that can withstand the person climbing the slope. The greater modification the staircase experienced is the metaphorical. The overcoming and the ascent of obstacles. Stairs play a central role in people's self-image. The possibility to overcome obstacles with your bodily power. A merely architectonical adjustment enables us to ascend. Stairs are perfectly adjusted to the human body, human abilities and their physical condition. It remained nearly unchanged since thousands of years. The mental development has long surpassed the physical one (,sie steht gewissermaßen auf einer anderen Stufe). The body that limits us, which is a constant in the ever-changing discourse of progress, does not need any adaptation of the environment aligned with it. The staircase manifests the tension between ascent and consistency. Without this consistency and stability of the steps, an ascent would not be possible.
The staircase therefore is a reminder to mankind of its physical limitations and at the same time a reminder not to step over itself. The ascent over the stairs grounds the person and has in the end the subliminal admonition to the people not to build a stairway to nowhere.