When I consider a luxury department store, for some reason, I picture a sweeping spiral staircase in the middle of the store, where all the hustle and bustle of live carries on around it. This reminded me of one of my favourite stores in Porthmadog. Kerfoots. The beautiful department store showcases a lovely Victorian spiral staircase as its main feature.
This then reminded me of one of my favourite museums in Prague- the Cubism museum. The stair case is spectacular. The shape of the handrails create an almost lightbulb shape from above, which is visible from the fourth floor. The building was designed by Josef Gocar and really captures the niche timeframe of the Cubism movement. Cubism only lasted 3 years due to the outbreak of the first WW1- therefore it is difficult to come across examples unlike other Arts & Crafts movements.
When researching I came across 'The Living Staircase' designed by Paul Cocksedge for Amperstand. The concept for the staircase is "more than a means of moving from floor to floor". This clever design features 3 social areas due to the widening of the diameter to create the circular zones.
