visual perception

AV-geek · Phoenix Joined: Feb 15, 2006 Age: 35 Posts: 622

I find the topic of visual perception rather intriguing. Today, a co-worker and I walked past a building that was under construction. It was an old building that was a department store that they are turning into an apartment building. The bottom floors had large glass windows for display cases, while the upper floors were covered in marble with smaller windows. The construction company had removed all the windows off the bottom floor, and has removed all the interior walls. The wall covering on the upper floors however is still in place.

Upon glancing at the building, it appears to be a massive structure standing in the air merely by these skinny little beams because you can see straight through the bottom floor, but not the top. The building appears top-heavy like it is ready to collapse. My co-worker made the comment "Good grief, I don't want to be near that thing! It looks mighty fragile like that" Upon further examination, I realized that the supporting structure of the building has not been altered in any way, only it's covering and other non, load-bearing components, and that the building is actually, in fact just as strong as it has always been! I told my co-worker that, but he still didn't feel comfortable around the building. Ironically, he had been in it multiple times when it was a department store!