2024-05-23T20:12:54-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150156501/battle-over-stramp-accessibility-upgrades-in-british-columbia-takes-shape Sean Joyner 2019-09-03T16:00:00-04:00 >2024-01-08T08:02:05-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/21/21dff0236d5e898ff729e83cb6359294.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>A battle over proposed design and safety upgrades to an out-of-compliance "stramp" design by Canadian architect <a href="https://archinect.com/forum/thread/89015/arthur-erickson-1924-2009/0" target="_blank">Arthur Erickson</a> from the 1970s is taking shape in British Columbia, Canada.</p> <p>Simon Scott, the director of Erickson's Foundation, said of the late architect: "He wanted to make public spaces accessible and enjoyable," <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/robson-square-province-reax-1.5265090" target="_blank">according to CBC</a>. Erickson's Robinson Square steps, however, have been deemed unsafe.</p> <p>"The ramp that zigzags across the steps at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver will not be modified to address accessibility concerns because of the 'architectural significance of the site,'" reports CBC. Arnold Cheng, an accessibility consultant brought in to survey the steps has countered this reasoning to CBC by pointing out that precious historical works of architecture, such as the Louvre in Paris, have undergone many design changes over the years.</p> <p>So far, it looks like the provincial government in B.C. has only approved the addition of "more signs and assistance for peop...</p> https://archinect.com/news/article/150094687/ancient-ramp-discovery-could-help-explain-construction-of-egyptian-pyramids Alexander Walter 2018-11-06T18:48:00-05:00 >2022-11-21T08:50:30-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/a9/a98dd704a1e34dc708a926dbce10aa0d.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>The mystery of how, exactly, the pyramids were built may have come a step closer to being unravelled after a team of archaeologists made a chance discovery in an ancient Egyptian quarry. Scientists researching ancient inscriptions happened upon a ramp with stairways and a series of what they believe to be postholes, which suggest that the job of hauling into place the huge blocks of stone used to build the monuments may have been completed more quickly than previously thought.</p></em><br /><br /><p>The theory of ancient Egyptians using ramps to move the enormous stone blocks to build the Great Pyramids of Giza some 4,500 years ago has been around for a while, but this new discovery suggests the possibility of a significantly steeper ramp angle and shorter construction period than commonly assumed.<br></p>