When famous buildings are demolished, like famous Louis Sullivan structures in Chicago, there’s a scramble to collect all of the ornamental bits and pieces for preservation — yet fewer people stop to notice (or try to collect) when it comes to more functional components of these structures.

But when a set of old timber escalators were being removed from Wynyard Station in Sydney, Australia, someone saw an opportunity to put them on display. After 80 years of use, artist Chris Fox was asked to turn these 244 wooden steps into something new.

The resulting Interloop keeps the essence of their shape and function intact, intertwining and winding upward in a dizzying set of spirals and parallel paths. Passengers on newly installed escalators, elevators and stairs can now appreciate these pieces of history soaring above them. From below, the suspended sculpture seems to intertwine then disentangle — coming down the new escalators, the steady steps wrap into one another.

Per the artist, Interloop “hangs from [the] ceiling, hovering above the escalators that travel underground from York Street. The vast twisting accordion-shaped sculpture reconfigures the heritage escalators that once stood there in a stitched form.” The project is over 150 long and weighs five tons. Its shape is meant to form a kind of feedback loop, “referencing all those journeys passed and now interlooping back.”

Well, that did NOT escalate quickly. These busted up and broken down abandoned escalators won’t be devouring any CROC plastic sandals anytime soon.

An outdoor escalator? In damp, rainy England? It’s more likely than you think, and most likely to be abandoned like this mossy ex-people-mover in Leeds. Snapped by Flickr user Paul Williams (Bluelemur), the long-neglected electric stairway once ferried shoppers from a pedestrian underpass up to a shopping mall. These images were taken in March of 2006; both the mall and its escalators were demolished shortly thereafter.

Somewhere Under The Rainbow

Think “La Rainbow Hotel” and a spectrum of brilliant colors come to mind. The above post-apocalyptic scene certainly wasn’t in the minds of those who named the long-abandoned hotel though it DOES display an impressive visual palette. Jordy Meow of Haikyo.org captured the former (1990-97) hotel’s silent, seized-up & spooky escalator in July of 2012.

Narrowed Down

When Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, CA closed in 1994, the “tallest industrial escalator” (according to Flickr user TunnelBug) closed along with it. We’re guessing it was the narrowest industrial escalator as well though no one to our knowledge has done a comparative survey. The images above date from 2006, 2005 and 2009 respectively.

Out Of Warranty

If Hyundai built this escalator as well as they build their current automobiles, it might still be working today. Instead, however, the abandoned mobile stairway in South Jakarta, Indonesia’s Tebet market dates from a time when Hyundai exported the infamous Pony and Stellar to unsuspecting North American shores… just typing those names evokes the aroma of cooked engine oil. Phew!

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Stopped Steps 10 Declining Abandoned Escalators

A temporary installation to commemorate the rebuilding of the city after the second world war, this massive staircase made from scaffolding will lead visitors up onto a postwar structure in the heart of Rotterdam.

Standing 60 feet high, the staircase of the 180 steps end on top of the Groot Handelsgebouw, an early building from the postwar construction effort that began 75 years ago. Dubbed simply The Stairs, this project by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV will also involve film screenings and events on the rooftop.

If the resulting temporary roof-topping venue is sufficiently popular, a more permanent means of access may replace the temporary stairs.

Other temporary and permanent architectural and urban design projects are also being developed and opened as part of the 75th-year commemoration (above: Market Hall with digital mural by MVRDV)

Maximizing usable space in a series of compact short-term apartments, these retractable steps slip back into a wall, all but disappearing beneath lofted bedroom areas when not needed. Drawers and other storage slots are designed around the dimensions of the zigzag shape created by the profile of the stairs while the railing above sits flush with the bedroom space divider.

Driving these space-saving retrofits is a desire to make hotel rooms feel more like homes, particularly since many guests of Zoku in Amsterdam end up staying for longer than a typical traveler would.

Each of the 133 units (270 square feet each) redesigned by Concrete features a similar set of unconventional amenities: a secret desk tucked beneath the bed, a slatted wood divider providing both privacy and light to the bedroom area above, hidden stairs that slide into the wall for access and a pair of suspended gymnast hoops hanging from the ceiling.

A combination of black and white, wood and bamboo, ceramic and organic elements help the spaces feel more variegated, like a house populated with individual furnishings and objects over time rather than a place made by a corporate hotel.

From the owners and architects: “A room at Zoku is much more than just a hotel room. It is a spacious micro-apartment. As space is becoming scarcer in urban areas, the way we use it sustainably to meet long-term accommodation requirements is more and more relevant. Smart solutions that create the opportunity to use less square metres and facilitate 24/7 multifunctional use are needed.”

Providing an elegant, robust, accessible and tree-friendly alternative to ladders or branches for climbing trunks, this spiral step solution lets you scale trees without harming them.

Developed by Thor ter Kulve and Robert McIntyre, the CanopyStair uses lightweight birch plywood, adjustable ratchet straps for leveling on uneven trunks and neoprene padding for soft contact points with the tree itself.

As the creators of this system point out, tree canopies are some of the least-explored places on Earth, in some ways as mysterious as the deep oceans or outer space.

The design was inspired in part by a stay off the coast of Portugal in a place with high walls blocking views. The designers found themselves turned into tree climbers in an effort to get a better look at the surrounding vista, then trying to figure out a way to take that approach to the next level, so to speak.

A curved top tread, wooden poles and plastic guidelines all help make the experience smooth and straightforward, letting those who may not normally be able to scale trees still climb them. The team also consulted arboriculturalists to make sure their approach would not damage or harm the trees being employed. The system takes a few hours to set up and as little as 30 minutes to deconstruct.