What do you think about fire escapes?

[the urban politician]

See poll.

Feel free to post comments, as well

[theWatusi]

depends on the building I guess.

some look great with em, some don't

[Bucktown718]

Fire Escapes are the spot to chill on hot summer NY days, bumping music chillin on it with your friends, one of best experiences. but if you put them on modern building i think they just wont look good don't you think?

[scalziand]

When looking at a building that has fire escapes, I try to pretend that they aren't there.

[HomrQT]

I love them. Chicago and New York City wouldn't be the same without them.

[vid]

They still make fire escapes!



Somewhere in the world there is probably a store where you can buy them.

[photoLith]

Fire escapes on historic buildings for the most part are incredibly ugly, well if they are on the front of them. But if they are on the backside of buildings than I like em cause they are dirty and add grit. But so many NYC streets would look a lot better if all of those front facing fire escapes were taken off.

[M.K.]

Most of them are unuseful, even when people block their fire doors. There are the ones who put locks, furniture ahead the escape, unofficial changes in building closing the fire-escape. So... Normally fire-stairs-outside brings nothing when they are really necessary in a fire real event. Actually a very good normal stairs well projected and executed inside would do the same job and more useful for everyone.

IMO, this become only cultural requirements to make more expensive the building to get it approved.

[CGII]

Aesthetically, I think they are very cool and add an interesting play on function and decoration, but having used them they scare the shit out of me and are crazy dangerous as they deteriorate.

[FFLush]

Notfanuttin but speaking as a fireman they're kind of important, irregardless of beauty!

[LMich]

Love them! One of my favorite skyscrapers of all times is Detroit's Book Tower, but without the fire escape, I'd think much less of it.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

depends on the building I guess.

some look great with em, some don't

Agreed

[rockyi]

Personally I like the grit of fire escapes and water tanks on old buildings.

If you don't like the old, dingy look of fire escapes (but still need them) you could try something creative like this one in DT Rock Island.

[SLO]

Ugly

[volguus zildrohar]

Aesthetically they can be hit or miss. They look great along a brick wall, not so much along a blank concrete surface.

Functionally, they're there to help people escape burning buildings. Hard to make an argument against that you're some kind of sociopath.

[CGII]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

Aesthetically they can be hit or miss. They look great along a brick wall, not so much along a blank concrete surface.

Functionally, they're there to help people escape burning buildings. Hard to make an argument against that you're some kind of sociopath.

Well in a modern building they're less safe than concrete interior stairwells...so in that regards I'm anti-fire escape.

[John Hinds]

Having an outside fire escape gives the impression that you don't trust the building materials you've used.

I've always seen them as a mark of a developer who skimped on fire safety inside because it was cheaper to put some stairs up outside.

[Bedhead]

That DT Rock Island one is brilliant.

Fire escapes can be made into the centrepiece of a facade. Here are a couple of great fire escapes, posted by Stepper77 and Haux on the 'My City' threads:


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=172205 Stepper77, SSP


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show....php?p=4571037 Haux, SSP

And of course, Richard Rogers has made an entire career out of bunging staircases onto the outside of buildings. I'm sure he got that idea from fire escapes when he was studying in the US.

Spiral fire escapes can look good too. They are popular in business parks in the UK:


my pic

More and more, I think that things like street signs, telegraph poles, wires, parked cars and fire escapes are as much a part of the urban fabric as buildings, and should be enjoyed. There's no point trying to turn cities into landscaped parks - and the messy, mundane things that people complain about the most often end up being the kind of things people get most nostalgic about when they're gone.

[miketoronto]

I love fire escapes. In fact I think they point to when I first got interested in architecture and cities.
I say this because when I was small, I would take photos of the fire escapes in Brooklyn, on our annual summer trips to NYC to see family.
I was obsessed with them and had to ensure I got pictures of all the different styled ones, etc

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by Bedhead

That DT Rock Island one is brilliant.

It was part of a project where the city hired artists (local and national) to use the allys and backsides of buildings as their canvas. It worked nicely and it seems that there is way less everyday graffiti and tagging in that area of town.