Anyone who drives the car through the United States, is a cultural peculiarities notice the countless shopping malls and the oversized billboards for law firms. Who, for example, from the suburbs of Chicago approaches the city center with the suburban railway, is a peculiarity of modern home decor register that does not exist in Germany that.
Almost all the older homes in the U.S., at least, if they have three or more floors, are equipped with one or more fire escapes. Were actually the most steel structures, which now have a permanent place in American pop culture context introspection, once conceived in times of increasing building codes as a safe escape route. But now they often fulfill very different purposes.
Fire stairs, pop culture icons
Europeans know fire stairs at least since the "West Side Story", in the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet was unceremoniously laid on the platform of a fire escape. was. Later-born, who have extended their education beyond the time horizon of purely large Muscial era, fire stairs of countless American TV series are known. Hardly an average episode does not need an escape scene through the window and the fire escape. Since television police are capable of learning, but they have mostly been an officer stationed at the foot of the stairs: a happy ending is firstly important and goes in at least second in the television crime almost always bad for the criminals.
Fire stairs, pass civil order desire
The breakthrough idea for the cultural fire stairs had an Englishman - if we are to believe Wikipedia - the end of the 18th Century for the first time an organized escape through the window constructed. Were the first fire escapes or mobile variants for the prudent traveler, were fired in the truest sense of the word through many devastating fires in the town, quickly constructed stationary fire stairs and placed. A bourgeois longing for stability and order city council finally turned into a mixture of social welfare and pragmatic pro-business policies for increasingly stringent regulations. Beginning of the 20th Century were fire escapes in the U.S. firmly in each city.
Fire stairs, the porch of the little man
Since every American slumbers a little freedom fighters that fire escapes were quickly diverted. And that's what I'm in Chicago from the light rail (and otherwise) have seen: the fire escape has long become the living room, the porch of the little man, so to speak. Depending on home decor and aesthetic sensibilities of the resident, the platforms of the fire stairs are decorated, furnished and decorated and reminiscent of home balconies . From the garden folding chair on the comfortable sofa to the upturned dustbin inside the range of architectural self sufficient. That occasionally neglected landfills block the escape routes is mentioned only in passing.
Primary and secondary functions of the fire escape
In any case, were in the pale, Chicago's first spring sun along the rail again and again to observe smaller groups that held their faces in the pale winter sun. That the Chicago way of life is not a special case, show reports from other cities. Especially on hot summer nights it just drives poorer, less air conditioning citizens to sleep on the fire escape, hoping abzubekommen in the canyons at least a smaller cooling breeze. These people, however, hit the camp for the night outdoors, but block the escape routes and thus the actual function of the fire escape, so regular complaints of the Municipalities larger U.S. cities. But since it obviously burns more rare to primary and secondary fire function of the conductor run.
Fire escape in the middle of "The Loop"
In downtown Chicago is again observed a special form of fire stairs. Therefore one must go to the smaller side streets, however. There also lead to frightening heights of skyscrapers escape routes down. This should still know that fire stairs, just because they are built for an emergency, are not as stable and well secured as regular stairs. They seem more fragile and little confidence. In addition, they are occasionally in years. Behind shiny facades in the side streets that is often dilapidated, dark canyons. But this eternal contradiction between shimmering facade and crumbling, shabby reality is a very different culture pessimistic Thread ...
