Stairs are a vital part of architecture and their design as a whole, without them any building loses its logic and its circulation, its use. However, sometimes, these structures take a back seat and lose prominence in favor of wide facades and overwhelming forms.

In this article, and to highlight its strength and importance, we highlight 10 projects in which stairs transform the space and the user experience. Includes works by DJarquitectura, Nendo, La Shed Architecture, Thomas Heatherwick, Tadao Ando, RoarcRenew, Foster + Partners, Smartvoll, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects.
Stairs are the core of vertical communications of any architectural project, around them the different spaces are organized and in many cases they manifest their prominence through their design, acquiring a sculptural and innovative appearance.

Going down or climbing a ladder is an experience in itself, changing, different, and even unpredictable. Materials, shapes, or points of light can transform the perceptible feelings about the project. In this list, all these essential aspects of design are appreciated and put into value.

1. Revolution in the courtyard by DJarquitectura


The project developed by DJarquitectura creates a place of reference for the artistic acts and presentations of the students. The proposal sews the connection between the different buildings, facilitating their relationship, accessibility, and evacuation.

DJarquitectura solves the continuity of movement flows with a reinforced concrete staircase that fills the courtyard and connects the buildings that surround it. The interesting sculptural piece projected has resolved the elimination of previous structures, already obsolete, facilitating the spatial renovation, conditioning, and improvement of one of the access patios for an adequate use by the students.

2. The Stair House by Nendo


Nendo has designed a house for two families who share the same space, the house for the older couple is located on the ground floor, while the first and second levels are for the home of the younger couple and their child.

The most distinguished and characteristic piece of the project is a sculpture in the shape of a staircase that connects the exterior entrance with the roof of the building and organizes the distribution of spaces and the program of uses around it. Within this structure, Nendo has located bathrooms, storage spaces, and an interior staircase. Floating cement was used for the exterior steps, while wood constitutes the interior steps.

3. Maison du Parc by La Shed Architecture


Facing La Fontaine Park in Montreal, this homeby La Shed Architecture, with its high level of contrast and stunning settings, is inspired by turn-of-the-century mansion architecture.

Located in the heart of the house, La Shed Architecture staircase makes its way through the three floors in spectacular fashion. Above this sculpture, which is truly architectural, there is an immense skylight that illuminates and highlights the striking curves of the staircase. The translucent glass rods, placed on both sides of the staircase, allow light to enter, while only subtly showing what is behind, creating remarkable light effects and an eerie depth.

4. Vessel by Thomas Heatherwick


Heatherwick Studio's design took on the challenge of creating a reference point for every inch of what could be scaled and explored. The Vessel will elevate the public to offer new ways to see New York, Hudson Yards, and the surrounding areas.

The Vessel 154 flights of interconnecting stairs, its 2,400 steps, and its 80 landings or viewpoints will increase the value of the promenade by rising above the public square. It will remain 46 meters high, with a diameter of 15 meters at its base, expanding to 46 meters at its top.

5. Renovation of Wrightwood 659 by Tadao Ando


The new space has been designed by the architect Tadao Ando, ​​a rehabilitation of a four-story residential building from 1929-1930, into a space for exhibitions dedicated to architecture and socially engaged art.

The exterior, a red brick perimeter masonry shell was rehabilitated; and it is only when the visitor enters the interior that he discovers Ando's hand visible in the new structure. There, a tower of reinforced concrete stairs appears, placed at an angle, which contrasts with the common tan-colored brick, rescued from the original structure, that lines the walls of the atrium.

6. Mandela Co-Working by RoarcRenew


The renovation project carried out by RoarcRenew has been based on the original concrete walls and on bringing natural light inside by opening a central skylight.

The vertical shaft of light with a diameter of 3.6 meters runs through the building from the first to the fourth floor, illuminating the area that sunlight could not reach before. In this space the curved staircase by RoarcRenew was included, dividing the interior into three main sections, the east, the center, and the west. The east and west are primarily used for the workspace, while the center facilitates the main traffic flow and serves as a lighted environment.

7. Apple Orchard Road by Foster + Partners


Apple Orchard Road, by Foster + Partners, is Apple's first flagship in Singapore, highlighting its role as a global hub of creativity. Its design reflects the vibrancy and innovative spirit of the city-state.

The large stone walls on both sides of the interior feature two spectacular curved staircases, hand-carved by Italian Castagna stone artisans, providing beautiful, well-sculpted portables to the large interior space, a tribute to craftsmanship and materiality. Foster + Partners stairs flow effortlessly up to the mezzanine with built-in handrails that have a smooth, tactile finish.

8. Loft Panzerhalle by Smartvoll


The Smartvoll team were winners in the international competition to transform a 350 m² space, the old "Panzerhalle", which had to be renovated into a loft.

Space is not only preserved but is being enriched with completely new qualities. To guarantee natural light throughout the apartment, smartvoll decided to keep the upper windows on both sides. The entire composition, by Smartvoll, revolves around a concrete sculpture, the stairs.

9. Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition by Coop Himmelb(l)au


The Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition (MOCAPE) is part of the master plan for the Futian Cultural District, Shenzhen's new urban center. The project combines two independent but structurally unified institutions: the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

Both museums, by Coop Himmelb(l)au, are designed as separate entities that accentuate their individual functional and artistic requirements and yet converge in a monolithic body surrounded by a multifunctional façade. They share the same main communications nucleus with ramps and escalators with an organic and moldable appearance.

10. Ribbon Chapel by Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects


Situated along the Inland Sea of ​​Japan and surrounded by tall trees, this chapel designed by Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects is configured as a double spiral made up of two staircases that rise to provide views of the ocean and island landscape.

By joining two spiral staircases so that one supports the other, an independent structure is achieved. Like two lives going through twists and turns before joining as one, the two spirals seamlessly connect at their top, at 15.4 m, to form a single ribbon. At the core the proyect movement, by Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP Architects, where the people who have accompanied the bride and groom wait.
DJarquitectura began in 2001 and is formed by the Architects Juana Sánchez and Diego Jiménez, the office is located on the coast of Granada and from there they develop their work individually or in association. DJarquitectura maintains a commitment to research and teaching, both are professors at the eAM´.
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la SHED architecture. The firm was established when architect associates Sébastien Parent, Yannick Laurin, Renée Mailhot, all united by a passion for architecture, design and Montreal, decided to team up to form La SHED. The studio is dedicated to a new type of architectural relationship, where to call an architect would scarcely be stranger than hiring a accountant – a relationship where conceiving your own living space would neither be a luxury nor would it be utopic.

Upon completion of its second project, la Maison Demers, la SHED was overwhelmed with critical success and has since been highlighted in a number of specialized medias and has received a variety of design and architecture awards. Notably, the firm is the recipient of the 2016 Emergent Architectural Practice Award given by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Canada Council for the Arts 2018 Ronald-J.-Thom Award for Early Design Achievement, and three Excellence in Architecture Awards granted by the Quebec Order of Architects (2015, 2017, 2019). Even though the team now has thirteen members, all decisions are made as they were on the first day – they are “submitted to the board” around the same large table.
 
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Thomas Heatherwick established in 1994, Heatherwick Studio recognised for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design and strategic thinking. Today a team of 180, including architects, designers and makers, works from a combined studio and workshop in Kings Cross, London.

At the heart of the studio’s work is a profound commitment to finding innovative design solutions, with a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. This is achieved through a working methodology of collaborative rational inquiry, undertaken in a spirit of curiosity and experimentation.

In the twenty years of its existence, Heatherwick Studio has worked in many countries, with a wide range of commissioners and in a variety of regulatory environments. Through this experience, the studio has acquired a high level of expertise in the design and realisation of unusual projects, with a particular focus on the large scale.

The studio’s work includes a number of nationally significant projects for the UK, including the award-winning UK Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, the Olympic Cauldron for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and the New Bus for London.

Thomas is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects; a Senior Research Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum; and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Royal College of Art, University of Dundee, University of Brighton, Sheffield Hallam University and University of Manchester.

He has won the Prince Philip Designers Prize, and, in 2004, was the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. In 2010, Thomas was awarded the RIBA’s Lubetkin Prize and the London Design Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to design.

In 2013 Thomas was awarded a CBE for his services to the design industry.

 

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Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. A self-educated architect, he spent time in nearby Kyoto and Nara, studying firsthand the great monuments of traditional Japanese architecture. Between 1962 and 1969 he traveled to the United States, Europe, and Africa, learning about Western architecture, history, and techniques. His studies of both traditional Japanese and modern architecture had a profound influence on his work and resulted in a unique blend of these rich traditions.

In 1969 Ando established Tadao Ando Architect and Associates in Osaka. He is an honorary fellow in the architecture academies of six countries; he has been a visiting professor at Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; and in 1997, he became professor of architecture at Tokyo University.

Ando has received numerous architecture awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and also in 2002, the Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in the arts and philosophy. His buildings can be seen in Japan, Europe, the United States, and India.

In fall 2001, following up on the comprehensive master plan commissioned from Cooper, Robertson & Partners in the 1990s and completed in 2001, Tadao Ando was selected to develop an architectural master plan for the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute to expand its buildings and enhance its 140-acre campus.

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Roarc Renew. In 2015,Robben Bai established Roarc Renew, an architectural atelier that specializes in urban space renovation. The atelier focuses on urban renewal, space reengineering, remodeling of old districts, with the aim to create a sustainable urban space, and respect forrevolutionary design and the history of architecture.Architects and consultants come from Shanghai,Hongkong, New York and Tel Aviv. Its current design projects include urban renewal, architectural design, interior design, product design and other categories in Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhangjiajie, Jakarta and other cities.

RoarchiRenew’s every design is an aesthetical manifestation of architecture. They try to preserve the unique form and field spirit of each project from the perspectives of themselves. Architecture is an art of squandering space, knowing this, Roar Renew’s designs are a balance of functions and forms, and we try to create awe-inspiring projects through spatial arrangement, shape and structure, and craftsmanship.

RoarcRenew has received worldwide mediarecognition. Its project Mixpace Mandela has been selected as winner of 2017 AD100, and it also won the Most Popular Office Interior Award. Robben BAI was nominated as one of the  Creative Talents 100+ by Domus China magazine.
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Norman Foster is considered by many to be the most prominent architect in Britain. He won the 1999 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the 2009 Príncipe de Asturias de las Artes Prize.

Lord Foster rebuilt the Reichstag as a new German Parliament in Berlin and designed a contemporary Great Court for the British Museum. He linked St. Paul's Cathedral to the Tate Modern with the Millennium Bridge, a steel footbridge across the Thames. He designed the Hearst Corporation Building in Manhattan, at 57th Street and Eighth Avenue.

He was born in Manchester, England, in 1935. Among his firm’s many other projects are London’s City Hall, the Bilbao Metro in Spain, the Canary Wharf Underground Station in London and the renovated courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

In the 1970s, Lord Foster was one of the most visible practitioners of high-tech architecture that fetishized machine culture. His triumphant 1986 Hong Kong and Shanghai bank building, conceived as a kit-of-parts plugged into a towering steel frame, was capitalism's answer to the populist Pompidou Center in Paris.

Nicolai Ouroussoff, The Times’s architecture critic, has written that although Lord Foster’s work has become sleeker and more predictable in recent years, his forms are always driven by an internal structural logic, and they treat their surroundings with a refreshing bluntness.

Awarded the Prince of Asturias of the Arts 2009.

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Smartvoll. It is not merely Phillip Buxbaum and Christian Kircher. Smartvoll is a team of unconventional thinkers and visionaries.

Their focus lies unequivocally on the architectonic design process. Having the goal in mind, they always pursue new ways and try out diverging pathways to ultimately surprise with new and extraordinary solutions. No thought should be left unthought when you want to turn a vague starting situation into succinct clarity. The creative freedom during the design process is being completed by a structured realism during the realization. Although, what should never be missing, is an unpretentious environment where one can have fun and laugh.
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Wolf D. Prix, born in Vienna in 1942, a co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology, the Architectural Association of London, and the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles.

Most formative among his many international teaching positions was his tenure at the University of Applied Arts Vienna: from 1993 to 2011 he was Professor for Architecture (Studio Prix), and stepped down from his position as vice chancellor of the Institute of Architecture in 2012. He taught as a visiting professor at the Architectural Association in London in 1984 and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990.From 1985 to 1995, Wolf D. Prix was active as Adjunct Professor at the SCI-Arc in Los Angeles. In 1998 he was a faculty member of Columbia University in New York.

In 1999, Wolf D. Prix was awarded the Harvey S. Perloff Professorship at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2001, he served as adjunct professor at UCLA and became a Doctor Honoris Causa de la Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 2002, Wolf D. Prix was made Officier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres and was also awarded the gold medal for merits to the federal state of Vienna. He received in 2004 the Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Architectural Education for his commitment to teaching and training and was awarded with the Jencks Award: Visions Built prize for his major contribution to the theory and practice of architecture in 2008. A year later, Federal President Dr. Heinz Fischer bestowed the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art on Wolf D. Prix for his outstanding creative achievements. In 2011 he was honoured with the “Silberne Komturkreuz des Landes Niederösterreich” as well as the Honorary Citizenship of the City of Busan, Southkorea.

From 1995 to 1997, Wolf D. Prix was a member of the architectural committee in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts. He is a member of the Austrian Art Senate, of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as of the Advisory Committee for Building Culture. Furthermore, Wolf D. Prix belongs to the Architectural Association Austria, the Association of German Architects (BDA) in Germany, the Architectural Association Santa Clara in Cuba, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Chamber of Architects Île de France and the Architectural Association Italy.

The work of Wolf D. Prix has been published in numerous books and his architectural designs have been featured in many museums and collections worldwide. In 2006, he was the commissioner for the Austrian contribution for the 10th International Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

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Hiroshi Nakamura. Born in Tokyo, 1974. Completed the Master Course, Department of Architecture, Graduated from the University of Meiji with M.Architecture Degree, 1999. Chief engineer in Kengo Kuma&Associates, 1999-2002. Established First Class Architect Office / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co., Ltd. / Currently this office representative director, 2002.

Awards. Grand Prize, JCD Design Award 2006 / Grand Prize, GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2008 / ShinKenchiku Award 2010 / Design Vanguard 2010 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD TOP 10 architect in the world (USA).

Works. Dancing trees Singing birds, House C, Roku museum.

Publishing. Microscopic Designing Methodology (INAX Publishing) / Love in Architecture(ASCII) / Reading Skills of Architects(TOTO).

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Oki Sato. Born in Toronto, Canada, 1977. M.A. in Architecture, Waseda University, Tokyo and established “nendo” Tokyo office, 2002. Established “nendo” Milan office, 2005. “The 100 Most Respected Japanese” (Newsweek magazine), 2006. “The Top 100 Small Japanese Companies” (Newsweek magazine), 2007.

A jury member of iF award, 2010. Lecturer for Waseda University, Tokyo; “Designer of the Year” (Wallpaper* magazine): “Designer of the Year” (ELLE DECO International Design Awards), 2012. “Guest of honor” (Toronto Interior Design Show); “Guest of honor” (Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair), 2013. “Designer of the Year” (Maison & Objet); “Interior Designers of the Year” (Iconic Awards); “CHANGE MAKER OF THE YEAR 2015” (Nikkei Online), 2015. A producer of World Design Capital Taipei; Jury Chair for the Golden Pin Design Award, 2016.
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