Compasses and Swinging Pendulums

A tall timber house with eight rooms on three floors, each one built around a curious idea. Top left is a reading room with a large compass on the wall, upside-down painted children and a tilted bookcase, where a boy reads. Next, three visitors look at a swinging pendulum hung over a round table with numbered balls. Middle left is a dining room with a striped floor where a family eats while a waiter pours. In the centre a woman stitches a patchwork quilt under sun and moon banners. At right a man and woman examine a tray beneath brass scales. Downstairs, a family looks at a glass water column, a gardener tends hanging plants in a leafy room and a man tests weights by a huge stone cauldron. Colour changes room by room, so the rows sort themselves.