In the wake of World War I, the United Kingdom developed a powerful yet relatively low-tech architectural system for detecting incoming enemy airplanes, the remnants of which can still be found across the countryside.

Starting in the 1920s, these concrete sound mirrors were built to passively gather, reflect and concentrate acoustic waves, directing the sound to listening posts on the ground — key infrastructure in an extensive early warning alert system.

Incoming sounds were amplified by microphones and listened to by operators wearing headphones. Today, the remains of these mirrors are largely abandoned and in various states of disrepair, though some are protected with walls or fences and accompanied by historical plaques.

Based in Basel, photographer Piercarlo Quecchia discovered the existence of sound mirrors thanks to an album cover featuring one such structure. From there, he began the search out, find and photograph them — 13 in total (all that remain), most of which are located along the southern edge of England.

They may look monolithic and simple, but the curves of these structures were carefully calibrated. The designs were specifically calculated (and sound mirrors accordingly engineered) to pick up aircraft engine noises in particular.

“They represent an incredible demonstration of how sound can generate a physical form,” explains the photographer, in which “both the curvature radius and the dimensions of the dishes are studied and designed according to the sound frequency that they must reflect,”  He hopes the series will continue to raise awareness of these artifacts and bolster preservation efforts.

Like the airmail arrows that once guided planes from coast to coast across the United States, it can be easy to overlook such geometrically simple leftovers, at least until an understanding of their historical origins leads people to spot and appreciate them.

A stunning rock formation in Malta known as the Azure Window drew visitors from around the world until its collapse in a storm in early 2017, but it could be reborn in an unexpected way. In collaboration with Elena Britanishskaya, architect Svetozar Andreev proposes transforming the site of the fallen landmark into a new exhibition space, mimicking the size and shape of the original using mirrored steel faces. The project, entitled ‘Heart of Malta,’ aims to retain the location as a primary tourist draw and use it as an opportunity to educate visitors on the history of the island nation in the central Mediterranean Sea.

Standing nearly 92 feet tall (28 meters), the abstracted form of the new structure offers more than 53,000 square feet (5,000 square meters) of space spread over five spiraling floors. Each spiral step represents 1,000 years of Maltese history, and the exhibition hall itself showcases everything from traditional shipbuilding methods and materials to cutting-edge modern architectural techniques.

Just like the arch, the building stretches out from the land, connected by a narrow bridge. The top remains a prime overlook to gaze out onto the beautiful seaside landscape of Dwejra, and visitors descend into the exhibition spaces via ramp. An online poll in MaltaToday found that 68 percent of readers were in favor of making the proposal a reality, says Andreev.

“It will be a perfect monument and symbol of the fusion of modernity and nature, of time and history, and a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit.”

Mirrors can disrupt our perception of our environment, especially when they’re positioned to blur the lines between land and sky, up and down, reality and reflection. These 12 (more) mirrored art installations dazzle us with glinting light, confuse us with illusions and invite us to question the difference between what we are shown and what we believe to be true.

Mirrored Ziggurat by Shirin Abedinirad

Slivers of the sky seem to hover in mid-air if you approach this mirrored ziggurat from one of its corners, the steps reflecting the sky while the walls reflect the grass. “In this installation I have been inspired by the pyramidal structure of Ziggurat, a common form of temple in ancient Mesopotamia, attempting to connect earth and sky, so humans could be nearer to god,” says artist Shirin Abedinirad. “The Mirrored Ziggurat acts as a staircase, which seeks to connect nature with human beings and to create union of ancient history and today’s world. The installation offers a transformative view of the self.”

Dazzling Wolf by Tomoko Konoike

Tiny shards of mirrors reflect light all over the surrounding surfaces as they form a silvery fragmented coat for a six-legged wolf. Titled ‘Donning Animal Skins and Braided Grass,’ the sculpture by Tomoko Konoike draws inspiration from both tradition and pop culture in the form of manga and Shinto animism.

Landscapes Turned Upon Themselves

Portions of a three-dimensional landscape are cut out and pasted on top of themselves in a large-scale mirror series called A Moment’s Reflection by Cody William Smith. The effect is most striking at night, when one side of the sky is dramatically different from the other. “My intention is to draw new connections between familiar forms by interdicting specular reflections to environments where none would typically exist. The mirrors serve as a focal point within a given scene and also function as a window to provide an entirely unique perspective on the same location.”

Maze of Mirrors at Hyde Park

Visitors carefully navigate a maze full of mirrors in Sydney’s Hyde Park, as it would be far too easy to just walk right into one of the reflective columns. Architecture firm Out of the Dark installed 81 mirrored posts with 423 reflective surfaces at the park as an interactive exhibit encouraging visitors to question what’s real and what’s an illusion.

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Reflection Perception 12 Mirrored Art Installations

A white box seems to hover in mid-air in the middle of the forest, with no visible supports suspending it from adjacent trees. This structure isn’t a treehouse at all, and it’s actually at least twice the size it appears. It virtually disappears into its natural environment thanks to the mirrors covering most of its bottom story, reflecting nearby trees and the forest floor.

Izabelin House by Reform Architekt is a woodland retreat outside Warsaw, Poland, designed as a tranquil getaway that blends into the forest, becoming a part of it. Approaching the two-story dwelling from the street side, it doesn’t appear out of the ordinary. It’s when you step to the side or the back that the illusion comes into play.

The white upper story is the only thing that gives the home away from certain angles – otherwise, it might be near-invisible. Other mirrored structures employ reflective panels on the entire exterior surface, or alternate them with wood for an effect that’s extra-surreal. Another approach covers the entire outside of a forest home with images of trees as camouflage.

Intentionally fooling the eye to either completely disorient you or focus your vision on a certain part of a scene, these mirrored buildings reflect their surroundings, often seeming to disappear entirely when viewed from certain angles. Hopefully, all of these deceptive reflective surfaces aren’t killing too many birds.

Reflective Roadside Cafe

The branches of an adjacent row of cherry trees are multiplied many times over in the polished mirrored surfaces of this roadside cafe by japanese firm Bandesign. The trees are a tourist draw during bloom season, so putting the focus on them helps draw in business for the cafe owners.

Chateau de Rentilly: Mirror-Clad French Country House

Mirrored panels completely transform a 1960s country house, Le Château de Rentilly, in the French countryside. Architecture studio Bona-LeMercier worked with artist Xavier Veilhan and set designer Alexis Bertrand to enhance the structure itself and also put the focus on the picturesque hillside setting. The former home is now a permanent gallery for Frac Île-de-France, the region’s contemporary art fund.

Invisible Barn

A combination of see-through portals and mirrored surfaces make this structure seem like a mirage as you approach the little park in which it stands. Designed for the 2014 Folly Competition, the mirrored barn isn’t actually a three-dimensional structure but rather a house-shaped wall.

Optical Illusion Street Facade Art

Ordinary passersby suddenly become talented acrobats when they interact with ‘Bâtiment,’ an installation by Leandro Erlich on display at Le 14 in paris as part of the In_Perceptions exhibition. The project added a massive mirror to the vertical facade of a real building, reflecting a fake facade that was applied to the sidewalk in front of it. The result is a fun optical illusion that made participants appear to defy gravity.

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Deceptively Reflective 12 Mirrored Buildings Trick The Eye