...puts in lifts (elevators) just to stick in half a flight of stairs to get to them?
shareHello? The show was created in the early 70's. Social conciousness about the rights of the disabled was embryonic in that era, much less the passage of legal mandates to give them access to all public areas. Not in America and not in Britain. Many old-fashioned department stores in both countries would have had tons of features back in those days that were not at all handicapped-friendly.
shareI'm well aware of that. My point is a lot of them don't have it today.
shareDesign styles change with the times. That's as true of retail architecture as anything else.
shareFrom an architectual point of view: It actually makes a lot sense to give the costumer an elevated overview over the whole floor as soon as he steps in.
On the other hand the layout of the AYBS set was simply that of a theatre or big show stage. Thats why the cameras had only about 160 degrees to shoot, and that's why the stairs were there. And why the actors only ever sat at three sides of a table at most.
I never understood the stairs.I can see putting one or two to create a dramatic effects(like a sunken living room) but all those stairs made no sense, no architect would design a building like that.also stairs like that would be a nightmare from all the old people falling, I dont think it would even be legal here in the states because there is no handrailing.
share[deleted]
They had to have the raised area for the lift in order to do the gags about people climbing out of the lift etc. It wouldn't have been possible to do them if the lift was level with the studio floor, as TV studios don't, as far as I know, have an 'understage' area. Also, the raised area at the back provides a greater surface area for the actors to move about on.
'Monsters? We're British!'
I also feel the stairs were just there for practical and comedic purposes.
George
"All that is gold dose not glitter, not all those who wander are lost."