Thirteen Geometric Shapes

Thirteen simple geometric forms, each about 9 feet tall, line a marble wall of the mezzanine at the Wood Street T Station in Pittsburgh.

Cut from sheets of dark slate, the figures include a square, circle, cross, rhombus, trapezoid, quarter circle, equilateral triangle, and right triangle, several in more than one orientation or combination. The assemblage stretches more than 200 feet, extending over escalators at either end of the mezzanine.

Installed in 1984, Thirteen Geometric Shapes is the work of artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007).

LeWitt often explored geometric forms and lines in his installations, paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures (see "LeWitt's Pyramid" and "Puzzling Lines").

For those hurrying transit riders who pause to ponder the stark shapes, LeWitt's collection might remind them of long-ago geometry classes or even the shapes of transit signs or ticket punches.

Photos by I. Peterson