Catalogue 22/Rotating Tower

Part of Catalogue 22, Catalogue 22 on Google Maps



Designer: Jaclyn Squizzato Degree: B. Architecture School: Carleton University Year: 2008 Location of Project: Carleton University, Ottawa  Project Status: Unbuilt

Each student was assigned to physically construct the architectural manifestation of one chapter from "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino. The city which inspired this project was one in which the past, present, and future all existed concurrently. In order to give physical form to this extremely conceptual program, I designed a tower in which each level rotated according to the speed of the winds. Materiality influenced the design as heavier materials were placed lower to the ground, thereby have less exposure to wind and rotating at paces of centuries. Contrastingly, lighter metal construction which would be placed closest to the top of the structure would rotate at a daily pace. In this way an individual approaching the structure would be able to view the passage of time through the decay of different materials and the rotation of the tower. Each viewing would therefore become predictable to some degree, and entirely unpredictable in others.