This cabinet uses implied movement in order to draw the eye around the piece, making it interesting and unique from all different angles. The designer uses expectation in the cubic forms appearing as they might in an instant roll off the main form. This is also direction, as the forms appear to be moving in different directions. There is implied motion in the legs, as they grow thinner towards the bottom. The use of diagonal lines throughout makes the viewer feel unsteady. The use of imbalance in the forms further emphasizes this effect. There is also contrast in textures between the wood and the metal forms, emphasizing the negative space under the main form. Complexity of form when combined with visual imbalance in this case, makes a very visually busy and interesting statement.
Staircase on the top floor of the San Francisco Main Library, designed by James Ingo and Cathy Simon
This is a picture I took of the staircase leading to the top floor of the Main Library. Diagonal lines are used almost to the point of excess, creating the feeling of motion. The center support structure starts smaller towards the bottom, and bigger and visually heavier towards the top, creating visual imbalance. The sweeping movement of the stairs draws the eye up or down the staircase, depending on perspective. There is contrast in shape and scale between the various different forms used to create the structure. The sweeping form at the top echoes the stairs below it, and is at once complex, and visually unstable, as the structure supporting it appears too small to be strong enough, as if it could fall down at any moment. The Gestalt Law of Continuation is also utilized, as many of the forms create gestures that are implied to go on beyond our field of sight.
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