Being back in Munich, I’m trying a different hotel, just for a change, and just to escape the brownish-elderly interior design of my usual hotel. Not that the latter plan worked out (brownish-elderly design again, this time combined with a clogged wash basin and some old stuff of unexplored origin left behind in the fridge – no, better don’t ask for the room charge), but at least I achieved the first goal – having a change.
When my taxi approached the area, we came across a huge hyperboloid of revolution standing in the middle of a crossroad, the traffic going around and through it. I asked the taxi driver what this structure signified or whom it was dedicated to, expecting an answer like “to celebrate science” or “it is dedicated to some crazy mathematician, god knows his name” or something along those lines. But his reply surprised me: “This is Mae West”.
Mae West? THAT Mae West? Yes, that Mae West. There she is, reborn in 2010 after being perceived by Rita McBride, an American artist who is obviously able to think really big.
So, there she is, Mae West. She is 52 m tall, her waist has a diameter of 7,5 meters, and she consists mainly of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. But yes, if you watch her intently, there is some similarity with the 1930s or so sex symbol.
While researching this surprising woman-thing, I found out that the structure’s name, “hyperboloid of revolution” (I love that name, by the way, it ignites some sparks of imagination), is Rotationshyperboloid (how nice, right?) and гиперболоид вращения, just to let our Russian friends participate as well.
Does anybody know what this is in French, Chinese, Hindi or Swahili? I mean Rotationshyperboloid, not Mae West. Well… maybe Mae West is called funny names in other languages (Papillon? Casillera del diablo? Botte dell’ acqua piovana? Or, maybe, just morot?) – in this case, please let us know as well.
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