{"id":109336,"date":"2025-11-01T07:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T07:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/109336\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T07:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T07:45:15","slug":"how-do-you-make-every-step-count-buildner-announces-stair-competition-winners-and-launches-new-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/109336\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Make Every Step Count? Buildner Announces Stair Competition Winners and Launches New Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a>Third Prize Winner: Plumb Line Staircase. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/p>\n

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Buildner<\/a> has announced the results of its international architecture ideas competition, Architect’s Stair<\/a>, and the launch of its third edition<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The event invited designers to reflect on one of architecture’s oldest and most symbolic elements: the stair. Beyond its functional role as a connector of levels, the stair was positioned here as a medium of architectural storytelling\u2014an invitation to explore ideas of procession, sequence, space, and form.<\/p>\n

For this first edition, participants were asked to conceptualize a stair not as a technical solution but as an expressive artifact\u2014an embodiment of their design sensibility and architectural values. There were no constraints on site, scale, material, or program. Instead, designers were challenged to reimagine the stair as a sculptural, poetic, and even philosophical construct\u2014one that could provoke, question, or elevate our understanding of vertical space.<\/p>\n

Submissions ranged from abstract meditations on movement and perception to intricate explorations of light, rhythm, and materiality. Many entrants drew on historical references or cultural symbolism, while others projected entirely new visions that defied conventional logic or gravity. Across all proposals, the stair emerged as a site of architectural experimentation\u2014a distilled space where function meets fiction.<\/p>\n

A jury composed of leading architects and designers selected the winning entries for their clarity of concept, originality, and spatial imagination: Cl\u00e9ment Blanchet, founder of Paris-based [cba] and former Director of OMA France, leads a studio redefining urban design through research and experimentation; Sam Brown, co-founder of Glasgow’s O’DonnellBrown, directs socially driven projects and teaches at the Glasgow School of Art; Didier Fi\u00faza Faustino, Paris- and Lisbon-based artist-architect, blurs boundaries between art and architecture to explore the relationship between body and space; Jun Igarashi, founder of Jun Igarashi Architects in Hokkaido, creates climate- and context-driven designs recognized internationally; Lydia Kallipoliti, architect and professor at The Cooper Union, is a leading thinker on ecological design and curator of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale; Lera Samovich, architect at Porto’s Fala Atelier, brings experience from Russian studios including Alexander Brodsky’s; Silvana Ordinas, co-founder of Peter Pichler Architecture in Milan, merges design leadership with business strategy; and Danielle Reimers, Principal at SAOTA and former Renzo Piano architect, specializes in sustainable, context-responsive design and inclusive leadership.<\/p>\n

Buildner’s other ongoing competitions include The Unbuilt Award 2025<\/a>, celebrating visionary unbuilt projects across three scales; The Architect’s Stair Edition #3<\/a>, a conceptual exploration of one of architecture’s most symbolic elements; and The Kinderspace Competition<\/a> Edition #3<\/a>, which invites innovative ideas for early childhood learning environments.<\/p>\n

Projects:<\/p>\n

First Prize Winner<\/p>\n

Project title: Escape: Redesigning the New York Fire Escape<\/p>\n

Authors: Matthew W Wilde, from the United States<\/p>\n

\"HowFirst Prize Winner: Escape: Redesigning the New York Fire Escape. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Escape: Redesigning the New York Fire Escape Stair proposes a radical rethinking of one of New York City’s most iconic yet underutilized architectural elements: the exterior fire escape. By transforming this infrastructural component into a socially activated space, the project reconceives the fire escape as a new type of vertical commons\u2014an outdoor extension of the domestic interior. The proposal introduces a flexible attachment system that accommodates seating, planters, trellises, and shelving, supported by cantilevered steel beams bolted directly through the fa\u00e7ade. Detailed axonometric studies and evocative renderings illustrate how this modular system can evolve to host diverse programs across multiple floors, from gardening to communal lounging, enhancing both the building’s functionality and the street’s vibrancy. The intervention not only addresses architectural reuse and densification, but also urban resilience, social interaction, and shared ecological space within the dense context of Manhattan’s built fabric.<\/p>\n

\"HowFirst Prize Winner: Escape: Redesigning the New York Fire Escape. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a> Second Prize Winner\u00a0<\/p>\n

Project title: Roof Becomes Stair<\/p>\n

Authors: Ralf Klaus Petersen, from Germany<\/p>\n

\"HowSecond Prize Winner: Roof Becomes Stair. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Roof Becomes Stair transforms a modest restoration challenge into a sculptural intervention rooted in the layered logic of Venetian architecture. Set within the Salone Verde Art & Social Club, the project reuses redundant horizontal roof beams\u2014removed during heritage works\u2014to form a new timber spiral staircase connecting to a once-inaccessible attic gallery. The approach blends craftsmanship and critical reflection, embedding ideas of permanence and reuse in both form and process. A clearly defined narrative traces the timber’s journey from redundant structure to central design feature, while the staircase itself is presented as a subtle spatial discovery: from certain angles a sculptural void, from others a functional vertical passage. Tactile documentation of the making process, photographs of the finished result, and precise line drawings provide a strong material and architectural clarity. The project offers a thoughtful meditation on building reuse and spatial choreography in a heritage context, balancing historical sensitivity with speculative formal intervention.<\/p>\n

\"HowSecond Prize Winner: Roof Becomes Stair. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a>Third Prize Winner<\/p>\n

Project title: Plumb Line Staircase<\/p>\n

Authors: Serge Saab, from the United States<\/p>\n

Plumb Line Staircase<\/a> proposes a dramatic intervention within a marble quarry landscape, offering a sculptural bridge-stair hybrid as both functional path and monument to extraction. The project explores the physical and symbolic depth of quarrying by inverting the act of excavation: rather than removing material, it reintroduces form in the shape of a plumb bob, recalling both the verticality of quarry walls and the tools used to shape them. The spiral stair descends from a lightweight bridge, threading through void and rock before terminating in a cantilevered platform at the water’s edge. Material and tectonic detailing are central, especially the interplay of solid marble and timber, with precision sectional drawings conveying the curvature and ergonomic calibration of each stair element. Renderings successfully evoke the sense of isolation and gravity that such a descent implies. The presentation combines conceptual depth with careful execution, achieving a strong synthesis of narrative, structure, and site.<\/p>\n

\"HowThird Prize Winner: Plumb Line Staircase. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a>Buildner Student Winner<\/p>\n

Project title: Aequilibrium<\/p>\n

Authors: Andreas Castelletti, from the Accademia di Architettura Mendrisio, Switzerland<\/p>\n

\"HowBuildner Student Winner: Aequilibrium. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Aequilibrium reimagines the staircase as an active interface between body and architecture, emphasizing physical feedback and equilibrium rather than fixed spatial passage. Drawing from the Latin term for balance, the design replaces standard rigid treads with leather elements, creating a flexible and subtly responsive walking surface. As users traverse the stairs, their muscles adapt in real time to the material’s elasticity, establishing a kinetic dialogue between user and space. Over time, this dynamic system responds to the frequency and behavior of those who use it, blurring the line between structure and installation. Visually, the proposal is minimal and restrained, with a single render capturing the poised tension of the staircase and orthographic drawings outlining its geometry with clarity. While the concept leans heavily on its narrative dimension, the presentation maintains an elegant economy of means that reflects the quiet, conceptual strength of the project.<\/p>\n

\"HowBuildner Student Winner: Aequilibrium. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a>Highlighted submissions<\/p>\n

Project title: Layered Memories, Layered Stairs<\/p>\n

Author: Lee Sanghun, from South Korea<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: Layered Memories, Layered Stairs. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Layered Memories, Layered Stairs<\/a> reimagines the stair not merely as a means of circulation but as a spatial device for memory, encounter, and emotion. Rooted in the concept of serendipity, the project celebrates the unexpected social moments and shared experiences that often occur on or around staircases. Designed as a modular system using the familiar form of the stair itself, the project builds a large-scale intervention where movement, pause, and gathering are equally emphasized. A reverse use of typical stair geometries, circular column references, and varied materials\u2014concrete, red brick, wood, steel, and glass\u2014create tactile and spatial richness. Modules are arranged with intentional randomness, inviting users to rest, observe, or converse while ascending or descending. Rather than a transitional element, the stair becomes a landscape of layered memory and collective experience\u2014an architecture of pause, play, and connection.<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: Layered Memories, Layered Stairs. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Project title: 404: Stair Not Found<\/p>\n

Author: Hoachen He, from the United States<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: 404: Stair Not Found. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

404: Stair Not Found transforms the architectural stair into a metaphor for digital disconnection and systemic failure. Once a rhythmic and directional interface, the stair here no longer connects bodies or levels\u2014it fragments, glitches, and loops within a simulated environment. Built as a physical model augmented by projection and photomontage, the work merges frosted acrylic, resin, LED matrices, and glitch overlays to create a suspended terrain of visual distortion and stillness. Each “step” becomes a signal interruption\u2014a loading bar, a missing file, or an incomplete thought\u2014reflecting how digital culture disrupts spatial continuity. The piece questions what happens when progress itself becomes a simulation: when architectural systems no longer guide but mirror the failures of technological dependence.<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: 404: Stair Not Found. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Project title: Vertical Choreography<\/p>\n

Author: Paul Gaunersdorfer, from Austria<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: Vertical Choreography. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a><\/p>\n

Vertical Choreography is a conceptual exploration of the stair as an autonomous architectural form\u2014reimagined not merely as a functional connector, but as a spatial and sculptural device. Freed from conventional constraints, the project investigates how vertical movement can define spatial experience, perception, and orientation. The freestanding prototype features alternating cantilevered steps, vertical acrylic planes, and solid platforms that establish a layered rhythm of mass and lightness, transparency and solidity. Inspired by tectonic clarity, the stair operates as both spatial sequence and object of contemplation. Fabricated from 3D-printed PLA, acrylic glass, and hand-cast concrete, the model highlights contrasts between weight and levity, while achieving geometric precision and structural expression at a small scale. Iterative studies refined the balance between delicacy and tectonic clarity. Though abstract in intent, the stair offers architectural potential as an organizing element for public or cultural buildings where movement and observation are celebrated.<\/p>\n

\"HowHighlighted submission: Vertical Choreography. Image Courtesy of Buildner<\/a>