Omani Zanzibari Sultanate

 ©Kathleen Cohen

CSU WorldImages

This image depicts the stairs leading into a slave holding cell from early Oman culture; the slaves were kept in these underground caves. Stone town is known for many of these underground caves. The stairs lead down into a cave that would be sealed by stone. Princess Omani was actually the daughter of one of the slaves kept in similar caves; Princess Omani’s mother was in fact a slave of the Arab ruling class. The stairs were actually made of cobblestone and mud brick clay, and the decent down these stair was a rocky slope downward into a dark musky cave.
It is important to understand that in the context of the Arab Slave Trade, the term Arab represents a culture as opposed to a specific race. Many of the “Arab” slave traders such as Tippu Tip and others were indistinguishable from the “Africans” whom they enslaved and sold. All of the main racial groups in Zanzibar were involved in the slave trade in some way or other. Europeans used slaves in their plantations in the Indian Ocean islands, Arabs were the main traders, and African rulers sold prisoners taken in battle.

Although best known today as an island paradise, there are many prominent reminders of Zanzibar’s dark history in the slave trade around Stone Town and across the island. The market where slaves were confined in dark, airless, underground chambers before being sold still contains the chains bolted to the concrete. A moving memorial now stands where the market once was, reminding visitors and locals alike, of the atrocities committed on that very spot centuries before. Nearby, the Anglican Church contains a wooden cross carved from the tree under which the famous explorer and abolitionist David Livingstone’s heart was buried in Zambia. Along the island’s coast, several old limestone holding cells where slaves were hidden from crusading British abolitionists still exist. Once slavery was banned, the use of the chambers increased. Some still contain etchings and final messages left by slaves awaiting their sale and transport to a foreign land.

In 1822, the Omani Arabs signed the Moresby Treaty which made the sale of slaves to Christian’s illegal and provided other restrictions. Unfortunately, these restrictions were essentially ignored, and the trade continued to thrive. Then, in 1873 under the threat of bombardment by the British navy, Sultan Barghash was forced to sign an edict making the sea-borne slave trade illegal, and the slave market in Zanzibar was finally closed. Although, slaving was now officially illegal, it continued on the mainland of Tanzania until the defeat of the Germans in the First World War and Britain took over as the colonial power. The holding cells were since then abandoned by the Arabs, and stairs to the holding cells fell into ruin.

A creative approach to the infinite spiral paradox. Instead we have the infinite spiral staircase endlessly spinning, this piece draws the eye furtively into the spiral. This piece shows an un-climbable journey into infinity.

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 Chambord. Loire Valley. France.

| ©Kathleen Cohen |

CSU WorldImages

Châteaux De Chambord features many elaborate staircases including the inner courtyard stairwell which is four stories into an upper watchtower

Châteaux in the 16th-century departed from castle architecture; while they were off-shoots of castles, with features commonly associated with them, they did not have serious defences. Extensive gardens and water features, such as a moat, were common amongst châteaux from this period. Chambord is no exception to this pattern. The layout is reminiscent of a typical castle with a keep, corner towers, and defended by a moat. Built in Renaissance style, the internal layout is an early example of the French and Italian style of grouping rooms into self-contained suites, a departure from the medieval style of corridor rooms. The massive château is composed of a central keep with four immense bastion towers at the corners. The keep also forms part of the front wall of a larger compound with two more large towers. Bases for a possible further two towers are found at the rear, but these were never developed, and remain the same height as the wall. The château features 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. Four rectangular vaulted hallways on each floor form a cross-shape.
The château was never intended to provide any form of defense from enemies; consequently the walls, towers and partial moat are purely decorative, and even at the time were an anachronism. Some elements of the architecture – open windows, loggia, and a vast outdoor area at the top – borrowed from the Italian Renaissance architecture – are less practical in cold and damp northern France.

The roofscape of Chambord contrasts with the masses of its masonry and has often been compared with the skyline of a town: it shows eleven kinds of towers and three types of chimneys, without symmetry, framed at the corners by the massive towers. The design parallels are north Italian and Leonardesque. One of the architectural highlights is the spectacular double-helix open staircase that is the centerpiece of the château. The two helixes ascend the three floors without ever meeting, illuminated from above by a sort of light house at the highest point of the château. There are suggestions that Leonardo da Vinci may have designed the staircase, but this has not been confirmed.

The château also features 128 meters of façade, more than 800 sculpted columns and an elaborately decorated roof. When François I commissioned the construction of Chambord, he wanted it to look like the skyline of Constantinople by taking the stairs.

In light of valentines day here are some rocking romantic stairs with the lyrics of Jim Morrison’s song Hello I Love You, preformed by The Doors. If you or a client love classic rock or music at all, try lyrical stairs. Simple in design, with use of typography and visual imagery to paint an image implied by the lyrics.

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 Chateau de Blois.

 Blois. France.

@Art Department CSULA

CSU WorldImages

The Francis I’s wing is known for having several balconies circling the stairwell with beautiful French architecture. The stairs are ornate with patterns of floral each different for each floor. This gothic masterpiece has wonderful decorated stairs with startling stair architecture.

The Francis I’s wing was commenced in 1515 that is at the beginning of his reign and works were completed before 1524, marking the death of Queen Claude de France, whose initials and emblems are associated everywhere with those of the king. Built only 15 years after the Louis XII wing, the Francis I wing is very different. During these 15 years, French art changed radically in contact with Italian art. The Francis I wing is one of the very first masterpieces of French Renaissance.

The emblem of the king, the salamander, is sculptured eleven times in high relief on the Francis I facade. The staircase, which was at the center of the facade before Gaston d’Orleans began to modify the castle, is a masterpiece. When the Italianate straight flights of stairs appeared in the Loire Valley after the Gothic period, the shape of the spiral staircase in a protruding octagonal cage was considered rather ordinary. The staircase, with its three floors of balconies looking on to the Court of Honor, is perfectly suitable for the display of more and more sumptuous ceremonies. The stairs so beautifully ornate are perfect for these ceremonies.

A modernist house with winding stairs, the theme is based on birdcages and alternative culture. With many twists and turns into this wooden cage. The hand rails or the stairs, are deep reminders of the bars on a bird cage.
 

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This is INXS live singing “The Stairs”

“STOREY TO STOREY, BUILDING TO BUILDING, WE PASS EACH OTHER ON THE STAIRS!”

Enjoy!

Floridians are used to surfing the waves, but what about surfing stairs? With waves going from one set of stairs to the other, the interesting architectural design of this staircase makes you think  you could surf it.

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The stairs of Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa. Sri Lanka
©Kathleen Cohen
CSU WorldImages

The stairs of Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa) lead to the centerpiece of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa), the Dalada Maluwa ( Da-la-da Malu-wa or the hall of the Tooth Relic), was a sacred precinct containing 12 magnificent buildings. Although there are numerous vatadage across Sri Lanka, the Vatadage at Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa)  is the most famous. As with many other vatadage, it had a stupa in the centre with four Buddha images facing the cardinal directions.

The Vatadage, one of the oldest & most beautiful monuments in Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa), is to our left as we enter the Dalada Maluwa. In spite of its modest proportions, the circular building with concentric terraces is a superbly planned & executed 12th century masterpiece. It was certainly intended to house the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha, which is now deposited at The Sacred Temple of Tooth in Kandy. Built by King Parakrambahu the great (1164-1196AD), it was later embellished by King Nissankamalla (1198-1206).

Outer structure, the first terrace

The entire outer structure with a diameter of 18m is a gorgeous riot of artistry, with almost every surface carved in a melee of decoration. The outer wall is decorated with friezes of lions & dwarfs, & topped by an abstract lotus design.

Upper structure, the second terrace

Four entrances to the upper terrace are adorned with magnificent stone carvings: moonstones flanked by nagaraja (Na-gar-Ra-ja or Cobra king) figures with seven hooded cobra head guardstones.

While the Nagaraja (Na-gar-Ra-ja or Cobra king) figures were believed to prevent evil spirits entering the premises, the moonstones- elaborate semi-circular welcome step stones carved in polished granite- represent the spiritual journey from samsara, the endless cycle of death & rebirth, to Nirvana, the ultimate escape from suffering. These were unique decorative features of Sinhalese architecture. The moonstone at the northern entrance is the finest in Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa).

Central dagoba (stupa)

From the upper terrace, decorative stairs lead through four entrances, aligned in the cardinal directions & each presided over by a seated Buddha. In the center are the ruins of the small central brick stupa in which the Tooth Relic was enshrined during the glorious days of ancient capital, Polonnaruwa (Polo-na-ru-wa). In sharp contrast to the building, this innermost sanctum, the reason for the very existence of Vatadage itself, is virtually unadorned.

Lost to the Dravidian invaders

The building has lost the conical roof of three concentric circles, most of the dagoba (stupa) and one of its guardstones among many other features & surrounding buildings to the marauding Dravidian invaders from South India, but at the base of the stairs you can still see some of the carvings.

In this Japanese TV show, one team tries to go up some lotion-covered stairs while the other team tries to take them down with water bombs. Since the stairs are covered with lotion, anyone who falls slides down all the way to the bottom.

Funny to see although it does also underline the culture gap. Would people from other cultures volunteer to slide down slippery stairs over and over again?