Beach Road Building Goes Viral For 2D Appearance, TikTokers Joke People Walk Sideways Inside

The Gateway At Beach Road Goes Viral On TikTok For 2D Appearance

Singapore is a concrete jungle with many interesting buildings making up our stunning skyline. Most recently, a particular building along Beach Road caught the attention of TikTokers for its mind-boggling 2D appearance.

One TikTok video highlighting the building’s peculiar features garnered over 2.3 million views in a day.

Contrary to its appearance, the building is made up of two separate 37-storey skyscrapers — its unique trapezoid shapes give it its bizarre flat-building effect from certain angles.

Beach Road building goes viral for appearing ‘flat’

On Wednesday (20 Jul), the TikToker shared a video of The Gateway seen from the intersection of Beach and Ophir Road.

From the spot, the building looked ‘flat’, as if it was something out of a buggy video game.

Source: @helmi_juhari on TikTok

In the 10-second clip, the TikTok user wrote that the building looked like it was a single piece of paper. He also praised the architect for being “damn solid”.

Turns out, he was not the only one who took notice of the building. Hours later, another TikToker also shared a video of The Gateway.

In her clip, the TikToker shared that the building made her feel as if she was “losing her shit”.

Netizens joke that people walk sideways inside

Having watched the videos, many netizens shared similar sentiments.

This user joked that the building cannot be real and that there was simply a glitch with the world.

Source: @shay.floreda on TikTok

While others wondered what the view would be like from inside the building, one netizen quipped that people in the building would have to walk sideways just to get around.

Translation: People in the building walk sideways
Source: @helmi_juhari on TikTok

In all seriousness, here’s how it looks:

Others also thought about the ingenious architect who came up with the building, joking that “an architect’s dream is an engineer’s nightmare”.

Source: @helmi_juhari on TikTok

Building is trapezoid-shaped

The person behind the building’s design is I.M Pei, an internationally renowned Chinese-American architect known for his dramatic and angular building.

According to travel site As We Saw It, Pei built The Gateway to face the southeastern shore, envisioning it as a ‘Gateway’ to Singapore, welcoming visitors from all over the world.

Made of two 37-storey buildings, The Gateway does indeed resemble a gateway of sorts from the “right” angle. But from another angle, the building looks completely flat.

Source: TheSmartLocal

This ‘optical illusion’ is reportedly made possible thanks to the building’s trapezoid shape.

Source: Google Maps

Combined with its angular edges, The Gateway gives off a ‘flat-building effect’, almost like they are two towering cardboard boxes.

An ambitious architect’s masterpiece

The Singapore skyline might be made up of countless high-rise buildings, but not many are as fascinating as The Gateway.

Needless to say, it takes an ambitious and creative architect to conceive such an idea, let alone turn it into reality.

Have you mistaken The Gateway for a ‘2D’ structure before? Share your thoughts about the building’s design in the comments below!

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Featured image adapted from study_singapore on Instagram and Nicolas Lannuzel on Flickr.