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Stairway House by Nendo

Dezeen's top 10 staircases of 2020

For our review of 2020 here are Dezeen's top 10 staircases this year, including a blue steel stairway by Virgil Abloh and a house by Nendo divided by giant concrete stairs.


He Art Museum by Tadao Ando, Guangdong, China

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando has built a pair of giant, concrete helical staircases that twist around the centre of the He Art Museum. The stairs connect the galleries and are lit from above by an oculus.

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Casa Bautista by Productora, Tulum, Mexico

Concrete stairs spiral up the outside of this eco house by the beach in the Yucatan Peninsula. Productora used a special kind of blue-toned concrete that turns pinker when it is exposed to the sun.

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House LG by Deferrari+Modesti, Tuscany, Italy

Interior design studio Deferrari+Modesti created this teak and powder-coated iron staircase that doubles as a climbing wall for a family that loves to rock climb.

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Off-White Flagship by Virgil Abloh and AMO, Miami, USA

Fashion designer Virgil Abloh designed the flagship store for his brand Off-White in Miami, which features this striking electric-blue staircase.

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Apán by PPAA, Hidalgo, Mexico

Architecture firm PPAA designed this space-saving plywood staircase in a prototype house for a project devising low-cost dwellings for rural areas in Mexico.

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Wohnregal by FAR, Berlin, Germany

Concrete steps screened by thin mesh zigzag up the side of this warehouse-style live/work apartment block by architecture studio FAR, which was shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020.

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Pingshan Performing Arts Center by Open Architecture, China

This set of stairs for a theatre near Shenzhen are wider and deeper on one side to create amphitheatre-style covered seats that catch the sun.

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Ogimachi House by Tomoaki Uno Architects, Nagoya, Japan

A flower-like staircase with petal-shaped treds unfurls in the centre of this house built by Tomoaki Uno Architects for a client recuperating from an illness.

The architects made almost everything entirely from cedar and cypress wood to create a natural and calming space.

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Stairway House by Nendo, Tokyo, Japan

Nendo's Stairway House is defined by the giant faux staircase that intersects its three storeys and continues out through the glazed facade and into the garden.

Although it can't be used to navigate floors, it creates a connection between the different parts of this multi-generational home.

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Kenwood Lee House by Cousins & Cousins, London, UK

A wooden swing hangs from the underside of this fun floating staircase made of oak in a house in London that also features a spiral staircase made of polished plaster.

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