Ultimately inspired by an impression of tall buildings, this work reflects the influence of Stein's teacher Josef Albers in its interest in geometry, the shading of color, and the deconstruction of fragmentation of forms. The latter harks back to Cubism, whose impact was felt at the Bauhaus, the German design school where Albers had studied, through artists such as Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger, who taught there. When asked for guidance regarding the correct placement of the five panels in relation to one another, the artist responded that there was no "correct" way, that they should be placed however they looked best.