A Step Forward for Art...and Nature

Cedar Falls is among the most beautiful of Ohio's waterfalls, with its unique and graceful keyhole shape shimmering against a sculpted face of weathered sandstone. What could be a more daunting task than to create a functional work of art that could complement such natural grace?

Akio Hizume, artist, architect and mathematician, accomplished such a feat last fall. Drawing from his love of nature and expertise in the relationships among numbers and dimensions, Akio designed a staircase descending gently down the hillside leading from the parking lot to Cedar Falls. Akio set out to create a serpentine walkway that feels as graceful as it looks. His goal was to make the act of ascending or descending the nearly 100 steps pleasant and relaxing; not the tiresome chore of climbing up or down the typical set of uniform, periodic stairs. The lengths of individual steps are varied, so that walkers alternate the leading foot, establishing a comfortable pace and rhythm. Though it seems like second nature, this walking rhythm was planned carefully and deliberately. It reflects mathematical principles of the Fibonacci sequence and the one-dimensional Penrose lattice.

Akio entitled his creation Democracy Steps for Cedar Falls 1997. The steps are democratic in the sense that they are designed for the ease of all walkers, including children. They also democratize art and culture by bringing a sophisticated work to a public place, where it can be enjoyed by a wide audience.

Akio built another set of democracy steps on a mountainside in his native Japan in 1995. Betty Collings of the Artists Organization of Columbus saw examples of Akio's work in Japan and was struck by the way his creation blended with the natural landscape. Inspired, she contacted Hocking Hills State Park Manager Steve Bennett and suggested a similar stairway project at Hocking Hills. The existing sixty-year-old stairs at Cedar Falls were in need of repair, and the proposed project was a natural fit. Hocking Hills State Park and the Artists Organization of Columbus teamed up with the Hocking County Tourism Association and Ohio University-Lancaster's Wilkes Gallery to bring Akio to Ohio. Funding was provided through a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, along with other grants and generous donations.

Labor for construction of the steps was provided primarily by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Civilian Conservation Zaleski camp crew under the direction of crew leader Jim Baty. Scott Kessler, an employee of Hocking Hills State Park, served as the project supervisor. The steps are built of recycled plastic lumber, a composite of sawdust and recycled plastic, donated by North Santiam Lumber Company.

Though his brief stay at Hocking Hills this summer was his first visit to Ohio, Akio felt at ease in the beautiful surroundings that reminded him of his home in Japan. Akio's gentle ways and his appreciation for the beauty of nature's patterns are reflected in his masterpiece. Generations of visitors who take the democracy steps to Cedar Falls will tune in to the natural rhythm that combines the precise disciplines of mathematics and architecture with the deep sensitivity and humanity of the arts.