Triangulation

The East Wing of the National Gallery of Art is a big triangle. The stairs rise at an angle. The elevators are at an angle. Even some of the bathrooms come in a triangular parallelogram space. The atrium raises a flat triangle to the sunroof ceiling, pointy with pyramids. The giant Calder mobile is triangular in structure, the moving forms in three-sided harmony. The underpass between the East and West wings includes a cafeteria, unremarkably functional, but the skylight windows point into triangles. The fountain cascades vertically down triangular stone ridges, to the delight of children passing by. The triangular ridges in shiny metal across the low ceiling bounce light across trays of burgers, pizza, and salad by the ounce. In a world full of circles that harmonize and squares that ground, the triangle sends us hurtling forward, back and sideways.