Staircases as a representative space of architecture

Due to its important architectural function, the staircase of a project is as old as the architecture itself, with there being significant examples throughout history, from those of the Palace of Knossos in Crete and Persepolis in Iran as well as in the works of Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante. However, it is in the Baroque period that we experience forms that restore the staircase of a project as a space-time configuration representative of the architecture, along with not only the monumental but also imaginative dimension as demonstrated by some European models introduced by Johann Balthasar Neumann in Germany or Mansart in France. In Italy, however, there is a particular design period of the staircase as a representative area of the architecture in Naples, with the work of Ferdinando Sanfelice being a masterful example. Specifically, the staircases of Ferdinando Sanfelice in Naples will be studied, highlighting the geometric-configuration arrays of his two main models i.e. the “gullwing” and the cantilever, which earned the architect the nickname of “Ferdina lievat’a’sotto” (Ferdinando get out from below). The unusual and bold formal configuration of his staircases, whether they were “neck” structures or, especially, “overhang” or “in flight”, had such an echo to the point that their lightweight appearance gave rise to legitimate doubts about their solidity and resistance.