2. the escalators

“I never tire of the incredible experience of descending the spiral escalators into Parasol Down. The animation of the stairs and parasols is poetry in motion. Many people don’t realize they move. I helped consult on that, and we didn’t want to make it overly active.... But in natural environments—in a forest, in an ocean—there are cycles—the way the sky is moving and shadows are changing—so it gives an organic story to the room. When there’s motion around you, it kicks in your cerebral cortex to a slightly heightened awareness. It makes it exciting and stimulates the environment to have those opposing motions. You have these parasols slowly shifting up and down like clouds, and then you have this movement of the escalator.... If you walked down the stairs, it would still be grand, but there’s something about this smooth gliding motion. It always makes me feel giddy and slightly royal.”