at a glance

when he began the work, the tiles were scavenged from various construction local sites, but eventually, tiles were brought by visitors from around the world to help him finish the project. national geographic declared the staircase as 'the largest sculpture in the world by a single individual'. 

escadaria selarón has been featured in numerous publications - magazines, newspapers, travel shows, documentaries and commercials including american express, coca-cola, kellogg's corn flakes, and time magazine.    it has also featured in numerous music videos featuring artists such as u2 and snoop dogg.

in 2009 the steps were featured in rio's emotive 2016 olympic bid video clip 'the passion unites us'. the steps were also featured in the american television show 'the amazing race' - where the teams were tasked to find a certain tile.