This is a drawing of a Penrose Triangle.
It’s an impossible shape — its topology is such that it can’t exist in the real world.
Except in Perth, where there is a real live Penrose Triangle. Here’s how it looks on Google Maps.
Many people drive past it every day, and no doubt they think, “What an ugly sculpture.”
But if you see it from the correct location, the legs seem to converge, forming the impossible triangle. Here’s a picture I took over the weekend.
Neat, eh.
The Wikipedia page has more information for the curious, including pictures of the shape from other angles.
11 September 2007 at 5:38 pm
This is really fun Daniel. Perth seems like a great city. Tell me a little about it.
11 September 2007 at 8:59 pm
wow that is truly stunning – how much of a leeway is there in where you have to stand to just get it right? Does it look disjointed until the moment it appears to fall into place? What is that experience like? Lucky you being able to see it regularly!
11 September 2007 at 9:00 pm
sorry – it’s late and my word jumbling is taking hold – I meant to write ‘to get it just right’.
11 September 2007 at 11:09 pm
You have to stand in just the right place for your height in order for it to work. Otherwise it kind of works. The realisation isn’t that sudden.
Perth is sort of a big small town; it’s not hard to run into people you know downtown after you’ve lived here for a while, particularly if you teach large classes. 🙂
It’s usually sunny and warm, the beaches are the best, and there are lots of skate kids.
12 September 2007 at 4:29 pm
Seattle, and even more so Portland are relatively progressive small cities with distinct bachelorhoods and good public transportation (Portland mostly). Does Perth also have that feel to it. It sounds like there might be a lot of bike riders there.
12 September 2007 at 4:32 pm
forgive the Freudian slip from a guy who will have a new baby girl any day now. I meant neighborhoods.
15 September 2007 at 3:26 pm
Lawl.
Is that happening soon? I can’t believe how weeks pass now.
Public transportation is okay. People complain about it here, but it’s better than most US cities, IMO.
I wish everyone could come over and see what I get to see when I bike to work. Half of it is along the Swan River. Lovely.