The sleek steel of this 30-foot-tall double-helix staircase pops against the backdrop of an orange-and-glass vertical office tower. Located in the courtyard of the global accounting firm KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft since 2004,Umschreibung (or “rewriting” in German) is the creation of the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. The staircase doesn’t actually lead anywhere and isn’t open to the public to climb, but it certainly makes a statement.
Frank Kovalchek.
Tiger & Turtle-Magic Mountain, Duisburg,Germany
It looks like a standard roller-coaster from a distance, but upon closer inspection, you’ll be faced with an ingenious staircase stretched through all kinds of curves. German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth made this interactive sculpture, unveiled in late 2011, so that visitors could explore the 249 steps both at day, taking in views high above the Rhine, and at night with LED lights on the handrails illuminating the staircase. If you’re wondering how to climb around the loop, well, you can’t. It’s closed off by a barrier.
Uwe Schmid.
Melk Abbey Staircase, Melk, Austria
You may recognize this mazelike Benedictine abbey overlooking the Danube River as inspiration for Umberto Eco’s popular novelThe Name of the Rose. It’s full of architectural flourishes like this Rococo-style spiral staircase—best viewed from underneath to catch a glimpse of the pink-and-gold painted underside. While the staircase leads to other rooms of the library, they aren’t open to the public.
Icepucks.
Heaven’s Gate Mountain, Zhangjiajie City, China
You’ll climb 999 grueling steps to an opening in the mountains considered to be the door to heaven. A cliff collapsed years ago, leaving this more-than-400-foot-tall hole. The number 999 was selected as lucky since the number 9 has the same pronunciation as the word that means “eternal,” or “perpetual,” in Mandarin—which may seem cruelly appropriate to those who attempt the climb. Just to get to the base of the staircase, visitors must first take a cable car that climbs 4,000 feet or a bus along a mountain road so winding it’s been compared to a dragon’s back.
Josep Folta.
Lello Bookshop,Porto, Portugal
Opened in 1906, Lello is one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores, thanks largely to its centerpiece: this glossy red staircase with carved wooden banisters that leads up to a glass atrium. The stairs are just as beautiful from underneath, with carved leaflike flourishes and the same bluish-green and gold paint as the ceiling above it. Look for lovely neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau elements to the rest of the shop as you browse.*
*Correction, March 13, 2012: This caption incorrectly referred to Art Nouveau elements in the bookstore as Art Deco.
Davide Cazzola.
Chand Baori, Abhaneri,India
This small village outside the northern city of Jaipur has a concentration of distinctive step wells calledbaoris, developed for collecting rainwater. Chand Baori is one of the deepest and largest of these wells, with some 3,500 steps that descend 13 stories deep. While it is possible to see down all 13 flights, it isn’t currently used as a well, as the bottom few stories are gated off. Dating from around the ninth century, this step well is located in front of the medieval Harshat Mata Temple.
Kenneth Lu.
Las Pozas,Xilitla,Mexico
Built by eccentric English poet Edward James in 1962, this Surrealist sculpture garden took more than two decades to complete and covers 80-plus acres of Mexican jungle with groovy structures like the “Stairway to the Sky,” a winding staircase you can climb up several stories—but that leads nowhere. Las Pozas also has natural waterfalls and pools.
Wendy Connett / Alamy.
Traversinersteg, Near Thusis, Switzerland
To overcome a steep climb over the Traversiner Ravine, Jürg Conzett designed this wooden suspension bridge to be a hanging staircase. Hikers ascend 176 steps to cross over this abyss in the Viamala Gorge. Photographer Wilfried Dechau captured the bridge’s construction in a beautifulphoto bookreleased after the bridge’s completion in 2005.
This grand double staircase, with its original wrought-iron balustrade and vivid patterned carpeting, swirls up three stories of this Gothic Revival hotel adjacent to St. Pancras Station. It was lovingly restored in 2011, but much of its original late-19th-century character remains, from the vaulted gold-leaf ceiling to the red hand-stenciled wall designs. Even the Spice Girls took a liking to this staircase, dancing on the steps in theirmusic videofor “Wannabe” back in 1994.
James Merrell.
The Universe Cascade, Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Dumfries, Scotland
Artist Charles Jencks built this cascading switchback of steps to represent the story of the universe and its development over billions of years. They descend from Portrack House to the architectural garden below. Though the gardens are private, they open to the publiconce a yearthrough Scotland’s Gardens Scheme to raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, in honor of Jencks’ late wife.
It looks like any old roller-coaster with curves and heart-stopping loops. But instead of zooming by, those people are walking—on inclines fitted with steps. German architects pushed the staircase into new territory in 2011, creating Tiger & Turtle-Magic Mountain purely for enjoyment.
While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is made at least as important as the function. Whether in shops, museums, religious sites, or the great outdoors, the staircases we’ve found are inspiring works of public art and provide interesting perspective on a destination. (From the steps of Tiger & Turtle-Magic Mountain, the views of Germany’s Rhine Valley are spectacular.)
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Another kind of architectural feat came courtesy of Apple, a brand known for obsessing about design, even down to the details of its retail stores. Ultra-modern floating glass staircases are centerpieces at most of their shops; the staircase that spirals twice to the second and third floors at the West 14th Street Apple Store in New York City is the most impressive. And in the age of Apple’s iPad and other e-readers, Portugal’s Lello Bookshop attracts most travelers for the sight of its lavish red staircase with Art Nouveau flourishes rather than its volumes.
But our list isn’t limited to modern designs; one of the most ingenious staircases was built for entirely practical reasons outside the city of Jaipur, India, around the ninth century. The 13-story-deep step well served a common good, enabling locals to climb up and down to access water despite fluctuating levels.
We tried to consider only cool staircases that are accessible to the public, ruling out some enviable ones within private homes. One notable exception is Antonio Gaudí’s skeletal staircase at Barcelona’s Casa Batlló. What was originally the Batlló family’s private home is such a fine example of Modernist architecture that it was opened to the public in 2002.
So next time you travel, skip the elevator and take the stairs. We bet you’ll be so amazed by the world’s coolest staircases you won’t notice you’re getting a workout.
