Agility Test

Now and again, I work in a building that has a lovely open foyer with a beautiful wooden staircase that goes up all five stories. There's an elevator, but the stairs are convenient, and we'll trot up and down them frequently. Mostly, they look like this.


However, as you get to the lowest floor, they suddenly change to this.



If you look carefully, there's a substantial curve to the bottom five steps. One time, I was standing nearby at the end of the day, waiting for a taxi as person after person made their way downstairs. You could hear the pattern as everyone tripped.

Step, step, step, step, ba-dum-bump-bump! Step, step, step.

Sometimes, interesting design should not take precedent over basic safety.