I've been wondering.. how does one construct those stairs that seem to go down but makes you end up where you started? Like those ones that go down and down and down when you realise that in going down you actually went back to where you went down..uh.. okay this is confusing.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Like those really strange stairs that seem to go down and yet go in a loop thus leading you nowhere but in circles?

Can someone explain those things to me? In English?

Yo no se que tu hablas! Es muy complicado... :D

Lioness, thou art cruel!

Come on anyone wanna explain that whole up/down stairs thing? In PLAIN ENGLISH? [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Ich verstanden nicht!

:D

You're talking about Escher's work, right? The artist who constructed the infinite stairwells. He was an artist talented in spacial illusions and in "morphing"; that is, changing an artistic shape from one thing into another. I think "Ascending and Descending" is the work you're thinking of.

Check here for more information:

http://www.worldofescher.com/

Thanks Saz, but it doesnt help me understand how the effect is made.. can anyone understand it?

Well, if you mean one that just goes in a circle, just have three in a row going up slightly, then the last one goes down, joining on to the start of the first one.

Think goodness someone explained it. Lol, I really thought you were talking about an escalator!

heehee, yo soy muy loca, Lifetime! [img]smile.gif[/img] Pero, me mucha gusta Escher.

[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Lioness ]</p>

As to how it's done: it's more of a matter of manipulating perspective than anything else.

Basically, the stairs can't ascend, but must look as if they are doing so. So you have to use a very low grade (about 5%) and angle the stairs downward, but barely perceptibly, to where it looks like one is leading up into another, but they loop back upon themselves.

Examine some of Escher's work closely and see. You'll see the illusion if you look hard enough.

Cheers,