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59. DOUBLE HELIX TOWER, PERTH In Photo #47 we saw that the so-called spiral staircase is not really spiral at all, but has the form of a helix. Three dimensional forms are much more intersting than planar shapes, but they are harder to visualize. The helix is interesting, because it is possible to intertwine this shape with a ‘reverse’ helix, obtaining the so-called double helix. This is illustrated in this photograph of the DNA Tower in King’s Park, Perth, Western Australia. The tower is 15 metres high, with 101 steps and resembles a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double helix molecule. This double helix structure is also found in the Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley in France. Like the Perth tower, it is possible to ascend one staircase and descend the other, but the structure is much less visible.
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