"Grigory Kovelman writes that Shukhov told him he had been thinking about the properties of hyperboloid structures for a long time, that he had studied hyperboloid forms at the Technical School, and that apparently the moment of enlightenment came about when he saw an up-ended wicker wastepaper basket with a focus on top of his desk. According to Shukhov, this was when he understood clearly how a hyperboloid structure with its curved surface [was] generated by straight rods..."