Piano Nobile

In the palais of the renaissance, and for a few more centuries after that, until Otis invented a way for elevators not to crash if their cable broke, the best floor was considered to be the first floor (second floor for my American readers). Often separated from the ground floor by a mezzanine, so really more of a second floor (third floor for my American readers).

It was far enough from the street to limit the nuisances like noise and smell, yet low enough to remain accessible).

Since the second part of the 19th century, the growing popularity of the elevator has changed architecture forever (tall buildings until then were hard to access by design, mostly used for observation, or to imprison people).

The elevator, though, hasn’t only changed new buildings, it had a profound impact on the existing ones, with the upper floors gaining in value.

We gained good views, but lost opportunities to be in better shape.

I recently moved from a fourth floor (fifth for y’all), to a first above a mezzanine, so a second, or third depending on where you live (OMG why even floors have to be so complicated?!?)

It’s been many years since I lived on a floor low enough that walking up the stairs is faster than waiting for the elevator.

Going up and down those two floors feels good. Just enough effort without being a hassle. My average floors climbed daily went from 3 to 7, and I only moved last Monday.

Sometimes, to facilitate a positive behavior, the best approach is to hack your environment to make the desired behavior the path of least resistance.