Last fall, while awaiting a ride at a mall’s outdoor parking lot in Arlington, VA, I was greeted by a rather striking, geometric, metal staircase. It was night time, perfectly lit, and rather forbidding. No visible life. No sound of footsteps. However, its azure railings and golden metal steps were a reminder of sculptural beauty found even in industrial and commercial environments.

Of course, greater intentional beauty is most created by architects such as in the case of the Broad Museumin Los Angeles, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler which we recently visited.

What comes to mind when we see steps from below? Challenges, goals, and hopefully, attainment. Like a winding path through the woods, they might invoke a sense of intrigue and mystery. As the architectural firm website descibes: “The public is then drawn upwards via escalator, tunneling through the vault, arriving onto nearly an acre of column-free gallery space bathed in filtered light.” Without any knowledge or preparation that was precisely my experience.

When it comes to photographing architecture, I often gravitate towards staircases and ladders with their dynamic patterns that can be geometric as well as curved and organic. In addition they also provide texture. Steps, be they of steel, granite, marble, wood, rope or carved out of a landscape, as in the case of rice or tea terraces in the Orient, come in all sizes and shapes. Many inspire as they lead our eye towards the sky or take us back to solid ground. Or we trip and sprain an ankle…

Just above are two elegant staircases with marble steps. The first was taken at the extravagant, turn of the century, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the other, resembling a chambered nautilus, from a luxury hotel also in Buenos Aires. Spirals, often quite fanciful, are often featured in churches such as the one below in Morelia, Mexico. With its shadow it forms a double helix.

Also in Buenos Aires but in a very different environment, the La Boca neighborhood, we have a plain, outdoor metal staircase attached to a building painted in primal colors. It reminded me of old New York City’s old fire escapes — minus the surrounding colors.

For ages, boats have used cords, often of sisal, to “navigate”, ie climb upwards to the sails.

More common are ladders such as the two below in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and finally, a tradtional Kiva ladder in New Mexico.

Finally, without the need for people to expend too much effort and with more speed and efficiency, we can enjoy today’s escalators —especially when as elegantly designed as at the Broad Museum.