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La manda un acident al calsolär

Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

scala a rampe contrapposte

English translation:

"U" shaped stairs

Added to glossary by Cristina Gonzalez
Oct 30, 2012 11:11
11 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Italian term

scala a rampe contrapposte

Italian to English Tech/Engineering Architecture historic buildings
This term is used frequently in descriptions of historic buildigns but I have not found pictures of the buildings and don't know exactly what it is. Is it a staircase with split flights of steps?

All’interno, attraverso una scala a rampe contrapposte, si accede al piano nobile che conserva alcune sale con volte dipinte, che, prima della divisione, erano la prosecuzione delle sale del palazzo vecchio.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 "U" shaped stairs
4 +1 double-ramp staircase [or "flight of steps]
4 +1 opposing double ramp stairway
References
Double back
Change log

Oct 31, 2012 19:49: Cristina Gonzalez Created KOG entry

Discussion

James (Jim) Davis Oct 31, 2012:
Everybody is focusing on the ramps but it is clearly a case of U shaped stairs which necessarily have two ramps. The contraposte has to mean that they take a 180° turn on the landing. And if they have more than two ramps then you have a zig-zag staircase set at whatever angle it is.
Cristina Gonzalez Oct 31, 2012:
The Spaniard is busy carving pumpkins and making Halloween decorations for her kids.

If you look at the bottom of the first link I provided, there is a floor plan of a "scala a rampe contrapposte."

Here is another link where you can see floor plans of U shaped stairs (in English, Phil ;-P ): http://www.clearymillwork.com/apd/Stairs_ushaped.htm
Eileen Cartoon (asker) Oct 31, 2012:
Anyway The description is a single staircase that is split, zig-zag style so it winds up to the next floor but takes up less space in terms of square meters for the stairwell
Eileen Cartoon (asker) Oct 31, 2012:
I got some pictures from the client Is there a way to post them so you can all see?
Tom in London Oct 30, 2012:
The Spanish? ?
philgoddard Oct 30, 2012:
Actually I prefer Tony's because it's closer to the Italian, and rules out the possibility of (say) two parallel flights of steps.
Tom in London Oct 30, 2012:
Tony's suggestion might be good too.
Tom in London Oct 30, 2012:
Or... it might also be OK to just say "double-ramp stair" (without the "case")
Tom in London Oct 30, 2012:
Stairway vs. staircase "Stairway" wouldn't be appropriate in a technical or scholarly description.
Eileen Cartoon (asker) Oct 30, 2012:
Tom, out of curiosity Is there a technical difference between a staircase and a stairway or are the simply synonyms?
Tony Shargool Oct 30, 2012:
another possible example of the stairway http://www.napoligrafia.it/monumenti/palazzi/sanfelice/sanfe...
Eileen Cartoon (asker) Oct 30, 2012:
Really is a shame I will probably go with Tom's double-ramp staircase because it is a bit vague because I can't tell if it is an typical flight of stairs that zig zags so that the actual stairwell is smaller or if it is a monumental staircase with two ramps that face each other, both leading up to the landing, or something else again. But in all these cases, I think double-ramp would still hold.
Tom in London Oct 30, 2012:
That's called a dog-leg stair (for obvious reasons) and I doubt whether that is what's meant. It doesn't have "rampe contrapposte". "Contrapposte" means "opposing". Shame we don't have a photo, Eileen.
philgoddard Oct 30, 2012:
I wonder if it means that the staircase zigzags its way up the building, as in this picture:
http://www.mp-snc.it/scale-metalliche/scale-emergenza.html
The text below mentions "a rampe contrapposte", but it's not clear whether this describes the staircase in the picture.

Proposed translations

+1
37 mins
Selected

"U" shaped stairs

My try. See the links.
Reference:

http://www.scale-sicurezza.it/preventivo.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairs

Note from asker:
Thanks Cristina. Now that I have seen pictures of exactly what the cliente intended. Your answer fits the bill perfectly. In my mind's eye, without a picture, I had also imagined a double stairway, like in some extremely large palace-like buidings (two flights of steps starting at opposite sides and running to the same landing). But now that I have seen the pics, what you suggested is pefect.
Peer comment(s):
agree James (Jim) Davis : or stairways or flights of steps
3 hrs
Thanks, James
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks again."
+1
28 mins

double-ramp staircase [or "flight of steps]

This is not a precise technical term and there's no fixed way to translate it; nor is it clear whether in this instance it's inside or outside a building.

There's a double-ramp flight of steps on the front of Palazzo dei Cavalieri in Pisa - but of course in other instances the two ramps might be inclined in the opposite direction (away from each other and then joined at the top by a landing)

Palazzo dei Cavalieri: http://www.aerenlund.dk/toscana/images/pisa_palazzo_dei_cava...

At Poggio a Caiano the situation is different:
http://tinyurl.com/9auokwg

But it's still a double-ramp flight of steps!

And so on....
Peer comment(s):
agree James (Jim) Davis : Don't your links really show "due scale a rampe" rather than one?
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
3 hrs

opposing double ramp stairway

http://www.arte.it/guida-arte/napoli/da-vedere/monumento/pal...

I've visited this amazing building in Naples characterized by the huge centrrecourt stairway leading to the two wings It's possibly what is being described.(see: . Built during the first half of the 16th century, the palace, now in a poor condition, was almost completely rebuilt for Troiano Spinelli, in the 18th century (1767) by the architect, Ferdinando Sanfelice, author of the oval courtyard, marked by the search for decorative and colour effects, occupied by the scenic open double ramp stairway that leads to the first floor and which aims at extending the available space with an illusionistic device


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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-10-30 15:42:49 GMT)
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I have visited the building often and all floors above ground level (of both 2 wings) are served by the same structure.
Note from asker:
I'm not so sure. The fact that the sentence says "si accede al piano nobile" gives me the impression that it leads up to a single landing to that floor and not two separate wings
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : Double-ramp, or "a stairway with two opposing ramps".
51 mins
Thank you, Phil -
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

4 hrs
Reference:

Double back

There are clear photos at the bottom of this file labelled at the top with the term posted. The second ramp doubles back on the first.

http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/edilizia/prg/PIANI_ATTUATIV...

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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-10-30 15:20:23 GMT)
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From wiki
"L" shaped stairways have one landing and usually change in direction by 90 degrees. "U" shaped stairs may employ a single wider landing for a change in direction of 180 degrees, or 2 landings for two changes in direction of 90 degrees each
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