some of these are deliberate, others aren’t.
however each illusion relies on some form of architecture and all create an effect which deserves to be mentioned.
1.
this incredible picture was captured by a flickr user in california whilst at work. a fog descended just as the sun set behind the building in shot. the result – one of the spookiest photographs of a building you’ll ever witness.
2.
the lichtenstein house is an extremely deceiving illusion created by roy lichtenstein.
as the angle upon which it’s viewed changes, the house shifts in an unusual way by playing with perspective. the best way to try and understand it is by watching the video clip below the photos.
3.
the following selection of buildings have the uncanny ability to look 2d simply due to the angle of one of the building’s corners.
the effect is some extremely fragile looking constructions, seemingly impossible to enter for a human being.
unknown building, paris…
bossone research centre, philadelphia…
unknown building…
john hancock tower, boston…
unknown building, hamburg
4.
the stairway to nowhere.
an art exhibit in munich, this stairway reminds me of m.c.escher and looks just as mental from the side.
5.
not strictly an illusion but a great photo of the olympic stadium in montreal.
so who copied who?
6.
the next illusions were created by swiss artist felice varini and are really fucking clever. the required result can only be viewed from one place in the room and the illusion is created using a projected image which is then painted onto the relevant surfaces.
here’s an example on film…
7.
one of the classic optical illusions has bizarrely been applied to the building shown below.
in case you’re unaware of the trick, all of the orange lines are parallel.
8.
this is the painted floor of sunshine city in tokyo.
it just illustrates the power of shading. one of the simplest illusions to create but also one of the most effective.
9.
a car park in seattle.
are the levels of the car park horizontal or sloping?
Filed under: art, bizarre, design, interessant, mental, photography, surreal, trickery, wow | 50 Comments
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Very cool photos!
Thanks for posting them.
The first one of the sun reflecting through the fog is really quite strange and interesting.
Dave Dragon
http://davedragon.rilysi.com
For the most part the parking levels are level. I have only parked there a few times. The price of the parking is more than street parking along the same street.
The Felice Varini illusions must be a trip. They must just pop out at you.
That last one I’ve actually parked in … it’s slated for demolition. Too bad too. It is supposed to evoke the image of a sinking ship.
I drive by the last one everyday!
Cool. Relating to your previous post- that’s an elevator of sorts on the outside of Olympic Stadium. You can see the car about 1/3 of the way up. There’s an observation deck up top.
Number 7 I have seen many times in Melbourne… pretty ugly building, if you ask me
But number 9 (the car park) is simply awesome!
I might just add that number 2 probably doesn’t work in real life unless you have one eye shut (or see it as a video)
brilliant! would love to see all of them up close
How could that last one not possibly be sloping?
MY MIND IS BLOWN!
Here’s another one from Cardiff, Wales – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6530989.stm
Good post geeza! All these pictures work much better when stoned!
@Jon
Actually, that type of illusion is way more powerful in real life – the pictures and video don’t even come close to doing it justice. I have a little paper model of a dragon that uses that effect for the head, and it appears to follow you where ever you go. Even when you know how the illusion is done, it’s very weird.
Check it out here:
http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticalillusions/dragon_illusion/
I have parked in the last one many times, it’s mostly level I agree, the top is a bit angled. I’ve never looked at it like that though. It’s in the Pioneer Square district in Seattle where all the clubs are.
The Bossone Research Center is on the Drexel University Campus. I go to the school, it really is a spectacle very few people recognize. I sent this to out dean of architecture, this is a really neat countdown
These are awesome. The building and sun with the fog was very cool. I was extremely impressed with the angles and shapes put into the house and buildings. Changing position and you see symbols and shapes, but otherwise it’s just random lines. Genius.
Great Post.
i don’t get the lichtenstien house. it looks cool but doesn’t look super special to me. the other illusions are freaking amazing.
http://www.photomfa.com
The parking garage in Seattle actually is sloping. Looking at it from the other side, the street slopes down and the garage slopes up.
@Urbanist: I didn’t know they were tearing it down… sad. I liked it too.
the car park in seattle is level, the streets are hills. i’ve parked in that one before. it’s near the federal building in downtown seattle. clever camera angle makes it look like it’s the car park thats sloping.
Hi there! I am happy that you found my photo interesting, I would have loved to get a note from you!
Just a small clarification, and I will have to add this to my description so as not to confuse anyone, the sun is not behind the building at all, but off somewhere to the left of the photo, kind of at a 8 or 9 o’clock if you are looking at the building being at noon. The light you see there is completely reflected off the building, not coming from behind.
Great blog post and wonderful collection of illusions!
Number 9 is in Seattle, and it isn’t really an optical illusion (though a pretty striking building). The land slopes just a bit, but the structure is indeed at quite an angle.
Now it makes sense, Anitza! =D
When I first saw it, I imagined it was a reflection, but when I read the sun was actually behind the building I got confused, but now your explanation made it clear for me =D
Some pretty neat stuff there. Very impressive pieces of architecture.
Big fuckin deal!
I have seen the Lichtenstein house (#2) at the sculpture garden of the National Gallery in DC and it’s craaazy amazing (and I had both eyes open).
Just wanted to point out that anyone who has visited the Haunted Mansion at either Disney park has had first hand experience with how well those inverted illusions really do work in real life. Remember those busts that followed you as you were walking along?