Many of you turned a usually monotonous stairway ascent or descent into fascinating architectural explorations through photos, and here’s a sample of the vertigo-inducing designs captured in stunning shots across the globe. From Antoni Gaudi’s nautilus-shaped steps of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain, to the golden spiral inside the Hilton Hotel of Reykjavik, Iceland, these stairwell-centered pictures show visual appreciation for functional swirls found in a variety of buildings worldwide.

See more photos curated today in the Stairway Spirals gallery, and share your photos with the Escaleras/Stairs group.

Photos from A Sutanto, Swissrock, yushimoto_02, john_coffee, Alt_Gr, and Thad Roan.