Tab exclusive: ‘I’ve seen inside the Koan. And it’s not what you think’

With all the construction going on across campus, it seems nothing is safe. Even the beloved Warwick Koan has been opened up for servicing. Engineering post-grad Josh McNamee got the opportunity to see inside the structure, the culture, and the enigma that is the Koan.

Since its construction in the late 1970s, the Koan has asserted its authority as a god among weird cone-shaped sculptures. With its own Twitter account, one-time university society, and a deluge of confused tourist photos – even recently including a couple’s wedding photos –  the Koan has been a symbol of uni life for many of us.

True beauty

Over the years the structure has been the centre of a variety of myths and legends, and it’s inside is particularly mythologised. Rumours have circulated it’s host to Thrift’s secret lair, a team of Oompa Loompas and even another fucking cafe.

But the game was changed when Josh snapped these shocking pictures during the miracle moment of the Koan’s opening.

Don’t look directly at it

It isn’t a tunnel to Westwood, a secret sex dungeon, or a part of an old spaceship – it seems the anti-climatic truth is it’s simply a mechanical rotor.

Being surprisingly small, Josh couldn’t go far inside, but still managed to capture the secret of the Koan’s 360 degrees movements. While anti-climactic for some, Josh found resolving the mystery was a massive relief. He exclusively told us: “I just felt, y’know, like everything was gonna be alright now.”

And so, the mystery of the Koan is resolved for now. Although it’s simple inside, the outside is still as bizarre as ever, and will certainly continue to fascinate and confuse every new fresher who passes it as it makes its slow and ominous nightly pirouette.