Colour the Stairs

Climbing stairs keeps you fit! Everyone who regularly uses the staircase in the library in Kleve to reach one of the six upper floors knows this. But that's not all: taking the stairs instead of the lift saves a considerable amount of CO₂ – approximately 116 g for a lift ride to the sixth floor! So how can we make healthy and sustainable stair climbing more attractive?

The idea: make the stairwell colourful! That's why the library launched the ‘Colour the Stairs’ student competition in the summer semester of 2024 in cooperation with the Faculty of Communication and Environment and the Facility Management Department. The goal was clear: those who don't take the lift should be rewarded with art enjoyment at no cost. To this end, aspiring designers from the ‘Information and Communication Design’ programme were brought on board. Due to the positive response and high-quality results of the designs, the library is now repeating the competition annually.

The students first create designs to brighten up the library stairwell as part of a project in the ‘Drawing II’ course. At the beginning of the project, they visit the library in Kleve together with their illustration lecturer Björn Steinmetzler to familiarise themselves with the architectural conditions. At the same time, library head Jonas Lamik, project coordinator Maike Schön and professor representative for media production Christian Stindl present the central guidelines for the project: creativity and the use of bright colours.

After completing the design project, the students can submit their designs to the library's student competition. A jury consisting of members of the Faculty of Communication and Environment, the Facility Management Department, the central University Marketing Department, the Campus Cleve Support Association and the library then jointly decide on the best designs. The designs are judged on their conceptual depth, creative quality and technical feasibility. The winners of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are then awarded prizes in Kamp-Lintfort and receive corresponding prize money.

The actual realisation of a design is independent of the ranking in the student competition. Nevertheless, in July 2025, the design by the winner of ‘Colour the Stairs 2024’, Samira Jannat, was painted in the stairwell by graffiti artists Mr. Oreo and Pout Spencer, represented by the artist agency AuftragsART. The library would like to express its sincere thanks to the Facility Management Department and the Campus Cleve Support Association for their financial support.

2024 - HSRW Community

(fltr) Jimena Hernandez, Björn Steinmetzler, Samira Jannat, Vanda Kleštincová

Photo credit: © Christian Stindl

1st place: Samira Jannat - "The stairway odyssey"

2nd place: Vanda Kleštincová "Continuum of Kleve"

3rd place: Jimena Hernandez "Escaping from reality"

2025 - Bringing Kamp-Lintfort to Kleve

(fltr) Maike Schön, Davit Dolmazashvili, Jonas Lamik, Ladyslava Skakun, Alina Umanska, Björn Steinmetzler, Derya Yilmaz, Aleksandra Borzunova, Corinna Strunk

Photo credit: © Hochschule Rhein-Waal

1st place: Alina Umanska “Stairway to the future”

2nd place: Derya Yilmaz “Flow”

3rd place: Davit Dolmazashvili „Untitled“

3rd place: Aleksandra Borzunova „Ka-Link“

3rd place: Ladyslava Skakun „Following the blue sheep”

Status: July 2025