A change at Casa Caballito

Interior at Casa Caballito is kind of "Architectural Digest goes to Mexico Design"  meets "Real World Construction", If you can imagine.

I'm a big fan of M.C. Escher's drawings.  Had a chance to see a show of originals a couple years ago at museum in the Netherlands -- what a treat.  So the interior of Casa Caballito has a set of stairs that look like M.C. Escher visited the Mayan pyramids.  First photo is how the stairs were last year:  way cool but with zero fall protection, like the pyramids.  Believe me, we were careful going up and down those steps in broad daylight, let alone at night. But don't you love them?

Walked in this year and look at this -- they added a handrail!  And what a cool rail.  Complex geometry, free-standing, anchored only at the ends (bolted to concrete at base, welded to steel I-beam at top).  Must be a joy for an architect to work here, lot less building rules for certain -- this stair rail is never going to meet California codes for kid fall prevention.  But it is kind of nice to have something to put a hand on.

Would be near impossible to build this elsewhere and get it in here, let alone getting the very precise fitting the rail shows.  Somebody built this here in place, probably with an oxy-acetylene torch.  Would have been fun to see.