This staircase transcends the boundaries between art and architecture

The spiral staircase by spitzbart, which bears the signature of the world-famous Oskar Niemeyer, is Staircase of the Year 2018 in the Sculpture category.

It took Jair Valera two minutes to draw the sketch of a staircase that made an almost insane vision become reality: It is a staircase bearing the signature of the world-famous architect Oscar Niemeyer made for an apartment in Berlin, located just 100 meters from the Brandenburg Gate. This actually started out due to reconstruction of the canteen for the Kirow Company and the Kranunion in Leipzig. And then continued with a letter from managing director Ludwig Koehne to the Brazilian star architect, with whom everything began:
"We operate a canteen that is located in a former workshop room of a brick building dating from 1927. It is special for two reasons: Firstly, the dining room, with a room height of 6 m, is very airy and has beautiful lighting. But even more important is the cook.” Perhaps it was precisely this sensual combination of man and brickwork that touched Oscar Niemeyer, the architect who was famous for his curvy, sweeping buildings and for architecture that encourages people to meet. 

"The copyright for the staircase lies entirely in Brazil."

That's why they met in person: the architect who shaped the new Brazil with his artistic buildings of reinforced concrete and the entrepreneur Koehne who manufactures railway cranes and heavy goods vehicles in his factory. He also combines curves and straight lines for a good flow of power - just as Niemeyer does with his buildings: "Power doesn't flow around corners intuitively," Koehne smiles. But ideas do. Like in the case of this staircase, which was created in passing together with Niemeyer's office manager Jair Valera, quite intuitively and harmoniously. It was, so to speak, a by-product of his canteen, designed shortly after he got to know Niemeyer personally. 

Whether this installation is primarily a stucture or a work of art, each viewer must decide for himself, says the portal treppen.de. Because the aim of this sculpturally designed construction by spitzbart treppen® in Nuremberg is precisely that: to combine stair construction and art in stylish uniqueness.

They have succeeded extremely well producing an impressive spiral staircase made of untreated steel with a sweeping design. The complex 3-dimensional cladding on the underside, which is axially displaced, is remarkable, along with other features. The inner edge of the curved sheet metal is 50 mm lower along the axis than the outer edge. The staircase is enclosed by a railing made of curved safety glass. The almost playful lightness of the entire multi-story unit is captivating.

The jury awarded the design of the multi-storey staircase as an artistic spatial sculpture with female forms and timeless beauty: this idea and its perfect implementation was honoured with the award "Staircase of the Year 2018" in the sculpture category. The individual elements of the system, such as the sophisticated metal construction, the self-supporting glass railing and the innovative natural stone step covering also contribute to the impressive effect of this staircase.

Photographs from spitzbarttreppen.de