Stairbuilders and Loretto
Stairbuilders and Loretto concerns a 4-day conference held in Santa Fe on April 25-28, 2018 by the Stairbuilders and Manufacturers Association to allow attendees to analyze the Loretto spiral staircase, and to "feature a case study of the Miraculous Staircase, presented during the Design and Engineering Symposium on Apr. 26."[1]
The New Mexican reported after interviewing conference attendees:
| “ | “As an engineer, it’s tough to do that,” said Farrington. “It’s a miracle that it’s so lightly framed and still works. That’s how I would look at it, as a miracle.”
Engineers can’t see inside the stairway to see how it was assembled, but its light-framed, wood construction probably would not meet today’s building codes. Guenzel, in an interview before he viewed the stairs, said that if built today, the stairs would be constructed similarly to the original — which makes the chapel all the more impressive. “Even in this current age we would be pretty challenged to built that stair,” he said.[2] |
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