North Stair, Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Brown, Lawford, and Forbes, Brooklyn, New York, 1958.

Easily missed within the sprawl of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, this minimalist masterpiece of nickel, black stone, and white plaster is one of the most elegant staircases in New York City.

No visitor to the museum should skip a slow walk up to appreciate the sinuous curve of the polished nickel guardrails and handrails. According to the New York Times, the stair was designed in 1955 by the firm Brown, Lawford, and Forbes, however I had always heard that the stair was originally designed by William Lescaze, who was an architectural advisor to the Museum many years prior.

There is a certain dreaminess to the ethereal and minimal staircase. Its details have very little elaboration, maintaining the focus on the rails and their curved brackets. I find the stair always a little surprising in how out of balance it makes me feel, I can’t explain the vertiginous openness of the space, but I always end the climb clutching the outer rail for dear life.