We get it – stairs are hard to build. And when people want to get creative or you’re somehow limited by space, things get even more complicated.
But whoever built these 30 staircases clearly had no good plan in place. If they did have some sort of plan, clearly they didn’t show it to anyone.
And the result is 30 epic fails.
1. “These stairs in a college I visited had people confused…”
Call us crazy, but confusion might not exactly be the vibe that an educational institution should cultivate in order to draw future students in. Most people only want to spend exorbitant amounts of their money and time on education if the school in question has a track record for intelligence. This staircase is not a good indicator of that!
2. “These escalators that force you to also use stairs”
Last time we checked, taking the escalator vs. the stairs was an either/or sort of deal. Apparently, that seemed to encourage too much laziness for the designers of this mall. Now, if you want to be lazy and use the escalators, you have to earn it through the stairs first.
3. Satan’s staircase
Let’s be honest. If The devil were going to design a staircase, it would look a lot like this one. The floating steps look like red shards of glass specifically situated to break the neck of anyone who tries to use them.
4. When your love of wood outweighs your need of safety
We get it; the bright tone and deep grain of this wood make the steps look totally awesome. Unfortunately, you won’t be around long to enjoy them because they will likely lead straight to your death.
5. “Man this hill is just too steep. Hold on a sec while I take the stairs”
We aren’t quite sure if this small set of concrete stairs in the middle of a small slope is meant to be abstract art or if the designer actually thought it was functional. It’s not as though the stair steps lead to an actual walkway; just a more level part of the grassy knoll. At least it’s both wheelchair and pedestrian accessible.
6. “These thin stairs”
While there is definitely something to be said for blending space-saving functionality with modern design, let’s not forget that there is also something to be said for safety. How on earth is a person ever going to climb these monstrous-looking stairs?
7. “How to break your bones”
We have to assume that these floating stairs were designed for people with really tiny feet in mind. There’s no way anything above a size 5 will be able to navigate those steps without getting their foot caught on one of the ledges. If you think about it, it’s a perfect upsell for small people looking for protection from intruders.
8. When art becomes your death
We totally get why people want to revamp their staircases and give them a modern edge. Really, we do. The only problem with these edgy-looking, open designs for these stairs is that they don’t take the realities of human clumsiness into account.
These stairs popped up in my timeline on FB. Actually kind of cool design but I would certainly die trying to go to the toilet at 2 AM.
byu/mrsbaltar inCrappyDesign
9. “These stairs in a residence hall when I was in college. Always creeped me out.”
Can you blame them? This has to be one of the creepiest sets of stairs that we have ever seen. The bright white glow of the fan-light casting eerie shadows all over the place doesn’t help at all, either. It’s the part of the stair that blends right into the ceiling, though, that gives it that finishing touch.
These stairs in a residence hall when I was in college. Always creeped me out. Poor quality due to camera phone circa 2009.
byu/rileyjw90 inCrappyDesign
10. “Not a good carpet choice for stairs if you ask me”
Unless you like taking random tumbles in public, you might want to avoid this optical illusion of a staircase. It might not seem like a wise choice at first, but if your aim is to catch the reaction of random strangers mid-fall, then really the carpet choice is brilliant! Let’s just hope they have liability insurance.
11. “You win this time, stairs…”
Thought you were just gonna swing that cupboard door wide-open, huh? The joke’s on you, my friend. The stairs always get the last laugh.
12. “Well that’s one way to make stairs”
We can only hope that this is a remnant of an old design that the renovators were too lazy to remove. Because if someone truly built this staircase as it is, we don’t know what they were thinking.
13. “These stairs…”
We don’t know who told her plastering a picture of her face over a massive set of stairs would help her self-image, but they were wrong! Nothing says “I’m a doormat” like having thousands of strangers walk all over your face in public. Seriously, though, this stair-set is just vandalism waiting to happen.
14. Are you ready for it?
Wedge-shaped stairs are really quite a pain all on their own. There’s nothing like watching someone walk down the stairs with confidence only to bite it at the end.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CrappyDesign/comments/c4xf0a/these_stairs/?ref=share&ref_source=embed&utm_content=timestamp&utm_medium=post_embed&utm_name=044f4ace28294373a93b0044401fc8f5&utm_source=embedly&utm_term=c4xf0a”]
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15. “Nearly died carrying a box down these basement stairs”
Oh how you’ve gotta love the arbitrary flair of the 60s and 70s! Who wants safe, boring, regular stairs when you could throw a pointless wedge on a switchback to kick things up a notch. We’re sure the owner of the house ended up adjusting just fine after the first couple hospital trips.
16. “These stairs at my therapist’s office”
They were built specifically with the patients in mind…to keep them coming back! Who wouldn’t believe they were crazy every time they entered and exited her building? We just hope she’s at least giving them a discount for their “frequent flyer” miles.
17. “Stairs leading to nowhere at my school”
This one is special as it failed twice. The first time in designing the steps at an awkward angle in position to the railing. And the second time when they put the new rail on like this instead of running it right down the middle. Now the stairs are completely pointless. Way to go school, way to go.
18. “We have parties here so going down these stairs drunk is a challenge”
Who does this?! At least if you’re drunk enough you’ll be numb to the fall. Waking up the next morning might be a tad bit more painful though.
These stairs in my in-laws summerhouse. We have parties here so going down these stairs drunk is a challange.
by inCrappyDesign
19. “Built the staircase exactly as designed, boss”
When you begin to understand that common sense is not all that common, mistakes like this become a lot more expected. To be fair, the architect could have been a little more clear with his design scheme. Too bad the contractor didn’t think of widening the landing a bit.
20. “These stairs are bad”
Just when you thought you had life all figured out, you come face to face with stairs like this. Another wonderful real-time representation of an MC Escher print come to life.
21. “Stairs that lead to nowhere”
On one hand you could say that’s accurate; these stair sets seem to lead absolutely nowhere. On the other hand, you could shift your perspective and see that these are really just tiny stairways to heaven…or your hospital, depending on how you fall.
22. “This death trap in Thailand at the top of a large set of stairs, WHY!?”
A lip at the top of the stairs?! Do you just WANT people to fall? I suppose it keeps the stairs safe from flooding, though. You might fall down the stairs, but the water won’t.
23. “Extreme Wheelchairing”
This disabled access ramp isn’t for the faint of heart – or for the disabled, sadly. Not only are the “ramps” comprised of wide, sloping stair steps, but able-bodied people aren’t even allowed to walk on it. You’re on your own for this ride, my friend. Hopefully, your chair has a good set of breaks on it.
24. “In case of fire use stairs, they said. Do not use elevators, they said”
It’s odd that the contractors had safety in mind when installing the railing that keeps people from falling into the very solid walls alongside the stairwell and yet didn’t think to actually add an exit point from the stairs themselves.
In case of fire use stairs, they said. Do not use elevators, they said.
byu/dylangleit inCrappyDesign
25. “You don’t have to be drunk to fall down these stairs”
You might not have to be drunk in order to fall down these stairs, but we’re thinking you might want to be! The only way to walk down these stair steps is to march down them like a soldier. Whatever you do, we definitely do not recommend trying to navigate them with a hangover.
26. Hazards
You know what the key is to making already deadly stairs even more deadly? Put stuff ALL OVER them. That way if you don’t fall from the architecture, you definitely trip over the books.
https://www.facebook.com/StairsObsessed/photos/2050056628553354
27. “For when you want a near-death experience every time you use the stairs”
Sure, building a floating set of stairs that double as shelving and storage may seem like a good idea at first until you go to put something on the “shelf”. Shelves are specifically made to hold crap you rarely use. In retrospect, it might not be the brightest idea to fill your already dangerous footpath with useless crap that will cause you to trip and break a bone or two.
28. Caged
Ok, so they look kind of cool, but what happens when you fall?! I mean, besides careening straight into that wall.
https://www.facebook.com/StairsObsessed/photos/2050056378553379
29. “Death waiting to happen.”
Believe it or not, this lovely little staircase of death is very real and is located in Massachusetts. In order to go to the bathroom from the bedroom, you have to come out and use the top stair as a balance beam to cross to the landing that holds the toilet. All we can say is that if you know you’re going to need to get up and pee at night, you might want to consider adding the novelty of a chamber pot to your bedroom.
30. The stairwell of doom
There are so many great things about this stairwell it’s hard to know where to start. First, if you want to keep whatever’s above from prying eyes, these stair steps make it look pretty much inaccessible. We also love the finished wood look and how the design makes great use of the small space. The only thing we don’t like about these stairs is the fact that they are meant to be stairs and will likely kill a person on the way down.
https://www.facebook.com/StairsObsessed/photos/2050056405220043
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It’s comforting to know that the next time you fail at executing a design of any kind, you can always look back on these pictures and feel good about the fact that no matter how bad you screwed up, it probably wasn’t as bad as these guys.
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