The Most Spectacular1 Staircases in the World

Meredith Hooper

Infinity2. infinity： 無限，無窮。 and beyond

The architecture of the staircase combines form and function, upper and lower space. It can represent power or status, or symbolise spiritual elevation and the climb to knowledge.3. 樓梯或代表權力和地位，或象征精神層面的提升和對知識的追求。symbolise：象征，代表；elevation： 提高，提升，后文elevated的意思是“升高的”。A new book published by Thames & Hudson,The Staircase: The Architecture of Ascentexplores the history and meaning of the staircase, from the simple,straight-flight steps of the Mayan pyramids, to the radical spiral ramp of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum and the computer-aided designs of today.4. 一本由泰晤士哈德森出版社出版的新書《樓梯：上升建筑》探究了樓梯的歷史和意義，書中為讀者呈現的有直上直下、簡簡單單的瑪雅人金字塔樓梯、弗蘭克·勞埃德·賴特為古根海姆博物館設計的完全旋轉式的樓梯，還有當今計算機輔助設計出的樓梯。Thames& Hudson： 一家總部設在英國倫敦的著名出版公司，主要出版藝術、建筑和設計類圖書；Mayan： 瑪雅人的，后文的Maaya是名詞“瑪雅人”，是中美洲地區和墨西哥印第安人的一支，公元前約2,500年就已定居今墨西哥南部、危地馬拉等地區；Frank Lloyd Wright： 弗蘭克·勞埃德·賴特（1867—1959），美國著名建筑設計師、室內設計師，也是20世紀上半葉最具影響力的設計師；Guggenheim Museum： 古根海姆博物館，全稱Solomn R. Suggenheim Museum（見57頁），是索羅門·R.古根海姆基金會旗下所有博物館的總稱，它是世界上最著名的私人現代藝術博物館之一。

當你徜徉在一座令你心馳神往已久的建筑杰作中，你有沒有注意過建筑的樓梯？雖然只是建筑中的細節，但樓梯的作用卻不可小覷。樓梯的風格也因建筑整體風格的不同而千變萬化。

古根海姆博物館內景

瑪雅金字塔

The steps of the Toltec-Maya pyramid at Chichen Itza5. Toltec： 托爾特克人，是十世紀左右統治墨西哥中部地區的民族；Chichen Itza： 奇琴伊察（瑪雅古城遺址）。, Mexico are an early example of the simple, straight-flight staircase—the ancestor of all stair design. Appearing to stretch up to the sky, this style of staircase came to symbolize an ascent to heaven and infinity, and has captured artists’ imaginations.

Let there be light

The “lantern” at the dome of a staircase is an important design feature — allowing the light to stream in.7. lantern： 燈，燈籠式天窗。The view shown here of the lantern of the Chateau of Chambord in the Loire, France, shows the flat ceiling embellished with coffering.8. Chateau（別墅，莊園） of Chambord：尚博爾城堡，也稱香堡，坐落在法國盧瓦爾河左岸五千米外的科松鎮，城堡草圖是弗朗索瓦一世邀請達·芬奇設計的；coffering： 方格天花板。Flanking the large windows are eight niches intended to hold statues.9. flank： 位于……側面；niche： 壁龕。The Chateau marks a high point in the development of the staircase, illustrating the Renaissance architects’ fascination with the spiral structure around an open space.

尚博爾城堡

法爾奈斯莊園

Elevated circles

The upper part of the helix staircase of the Villa Farnese at Caprarola, Lazio, built in 1559, makes a grand statement.10. helix： 螺旋；Villa Farnese： 法爾奈斯莊園，意大利三大莊園之一；make a statement： 表明，表現。Architect Jacopo Vignola’s design was a blend of an Italian palazzo, a villa and a French chateau.11. Jacopo Vignola： 吉阿柯莫·維尼奧拉，繼米開朗基羅之后羅馬最著名的建筑師，曾在法蘭西王宮中供職；palazzo：〈意〉宮殿，大廈；villa： 花園住宅別墅。The monumental staircase rises to a third floor and is supported by 30 pairs of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns.12. monumental： 巨大的，高大的；Doric：多立克柱式的；Ionic： 愛奧尼亞式的；Corinthian： 科林斯式的。多立克柱式、愛奧尼亞柱式和科林斯柱式并稱西方古典建筑的三大柱式。

High and mighty

The spirit of the Baroque emerges in the monumental staircase of the Palazzo Canossa in Mantua, Lombardy, built in the 1600s for the Gonzaga family, who ruled that part of northern Itlay from the 14th to the 18th Centuries.13. 巴洛克風格出現在位于倫巴第曼圖亞的卡諾薩宮殿那具有里程碑意義的樓梯上，這座宮殿是在17世紀初為14世紀至18世紀統治意大利北部的貢薩加家族建造的。The figures that greet the visitor on the landing include two large hounds: dogs were the emblem14. emblem： 象征，徽章。of the powerful family.

卡諾薩宮殿

普雷蒙特雷修道院

Stairway to heaven

The elegance of French architecture in the Age of Enlightenment is typified by the elliptical spiral staircase at the Abbey of Prémontré in the Aisne, built in the first half of the 17th Century.15. Age of Enlightenment： 啟蒙運動時期；elliptical：橢圓的；Abbey of Prémontré： 普雷蒙特雷修道院；Aisne： 法國埃納省。Architects of the time understood the mystical mood set by light on stone and tapering16. tapering： 逐漸變細的。shadows on steps.

High drama

The palaces of Germany and Austria show German Baroque at its most dramatic and rich. At the Würzburg Residenz—commissioned by the city’s powerful dynasty of prince-bishops—the ceiling is covered in a fresco by Venetian artist Giambattista Tiepolo depicting the four corners of the earth above the great staircase.17. Würzburg Residenz： 維爾茨堡主教宮，位于德國南部；fresco： 壁畫；princebishop： 采邑主教，或稱親王主教，是指以天主教教會諸侯的身份治理一個或是多個公國，同時擁有政教二重權力的主教；Giambattista Tiepolo： 提埃坡羅（1696－1770），常被稱為賈姆巴蒂斯塔（Giambattista），是意大利著名畫家。

維爾茨堡主教宮

奧古斯都堡

Allusions of grandeur18. allusion： 暗指，暗示；grandeur： 壯麗，輝煌。

At Augustusburg Castle in Brühl, near Cologne, the architect Balthasar Neumann built one of the most extraordinary of all German Rococo staircases.19. Augustusburg Castle： 奧古斯都堡，位于德國科隆附近的布呂爾；Balthasar Neumann： 巴爾塔扎·諾伊曼（1687—1753），是巴洛克建筑重要的德意志建筑大師之一；Rococo： 洛可可風格的。The architect, in keeping with the style of the time, was concerned less with the beauty of the individual materials than with the overall visual effect when they were brought together, and most of the marble is in fact imitation20. imitation： 模仿。. No expense was spared, though, on the trompe-l’oeil21. trompe-l’oeil： 視覺陷阱，是一種作畫技巧，使二維的畫給人以極度真實的三維空間的感覺。paintings, created by the most outstanding artists of the day.

High society

The austerely elegant staircase at Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland in the UK is inspired by the Palladian style—grandiose but glacial.22. austerely： 嚴格地，莊嚴地；Seaton Delaval Hall： 錫頓德勒沃爾宅??；Northumberland： 諾森伯蘭郡（英國英格蘭郡名）；Palladian：帕拉迪奧式的；grandiose： 富麗堂皇的，宏偉華麗的。As in the rest of Europe, the staircase in Britain became a symbol of prestige and ritual, and in the British country house it reflected and reinforced the owner’s social status,success or ambitions to power.23. reflect： 表達，反映；reinforce： 強化，深化。

錫頓德勒沃爾宅邸

紐約古根海姆博物館外景

Circle of life

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York was Frank Lloyd Wright’s final masterpiece24. masterpiece： 杰作，大作。, completed in 1959.The building’s iconic quality derives from the spiralling ramp that surrounds the circular atrium, celebrating the movement of visitors through the museum’s six floors and unifying interior and exterior.25. 這座建筑最突出的特點就是圍繞圓形中庭的螺旋形樓梯，如此一來在中庭就能看見往來一樓到六樓參觀的游客們，也使建筑的內外風格得到統一。ramp： 扶梯；atrium： 中庭，天井；unify： 統一，使一致。

Onwards and upwards

The innovative Pompidou Centre in Paris was nicknamed the ‘gasworks’, and typified the fascination with technology of the time.26. Pompidou Centre： 蓬皮杜中心，位于法國巴黎，是法國前衛藝術的會堂；gaswork： 煤氣站； fascination：著迷，迷戀。Opened in 1977, it was designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers who, in a grandiose theatrical gesture,strung stairways across the full width of the main facade.27. Renzo Piano： 倫佐·皮亞諾（1937— ），意大利當代著名建筑師。1998年第20屆普利茲克獎得主；Richard Rogers： 理查德·羅杰斯，英國建筑師。代表作有著名的“千年穹頂”，與福斯特合作設計的香港匯豐銀行和與意大利建筑師皮阿諾共同設計巴黎蓬皮杜藝術和文化中心等等。A functional and geometric triumph, the main staircase stretched across all six floors.

蓬皮杜中心