'Vertical Walking' is an experimental staircase prototype from the Rombout Frieling Lab. However, to call Vertical Walking a staircase is to radically expand the definition of stairs, as the concept system is far from anything resembling the standard conduit fort movement between floors.
Vertical Walking works through the use of a unidirectional locking pulley system. Users rest their body weight on the seat and put their feet on the footrest, then stand up. As they stand, the seat rises with them. Then, when they sit down again, the footrest rises with their feet. Thus, by sitting and standing repeatedly, they rise up the track.
The Vertical Walking system uses only human energy to move people between floors, just like a staircase technically does. However, the entire system fits into a single-person column and it requires less than 10 percent of the effort of walking up stairs.
Vertical Staircase Concepts
'Vertical Walking' is More Space Efficient Than Standard Staircases
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