Silly Question Cont’d
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Hi there
Remember I asked about those quadrant shaped flat pieces of stone in the corners of the Custom’s House Exterior?
Rory I think sugested they were to stop people urinating in corners[the stones slope down toward the trousers]. That seems like a good theory to me.
We were in Venice again last week and my girlfiriend and I spotted a HUGE one not far from Corso Nuovo. It’s about 4 feet in radius! and almost touching the ground. Very steep angle. I don’t know – my girlfriend suggested it’s a structural support.
Unless it’s for stopping elephants…
Who knows how some of these features come about. I presume lots of them start in a mundane fashion and then become encorporated into newer deigns when the original purpose is forgotten. Sometimes becoming decorative in themselves.
Any thoughts?
JohnYou get these pieces occasionally in London, too – the Victorians did them in iron as well as stone, to fill in corners on public stairways etc. They are certainly anti-urination devices, and very effective – perhaps they should be revived.
Examples to be seen as you step down from Tower Bridge towards Conranland on the south bank of the thames.
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