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Pillars of Thought
Permanent Installation |
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| Pillars of Thought Drawing |
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| Location: |
Civic Center Library, Scottsdale, AZ, 1994 |
| Client: | Scottsdale Cultural Council |
| Size: | Columns 19' 6", projection 25' |
| Material: | Steel, concrete, glass, special light fixtures, motors, reflectors |
| Budget: | $150,000 |
| Architect: | ADP Inc. |
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| Pillars of Thought is a piece for the new main reading room of the Scottsdale Public Library. The piece was made by modifying the five monumental columns along the central path of the room and adding light and moving shadow patterns at the head of each column. |
| The structural brackets of the main beams have been transformed into a sequence of giant heads that form a silent procession down the aisle. These totemic images project light upward onto large round screens hung in the clerestories above. The light projects through mechanized mobiles to create shadow drawings above that symbolize different styles of thinking - structured vs. apparently random, focused vs. divergent, geometrical vs. informal. These thought patterns move and change slowly and incorporate light reflected from the outside through water and wind driven reflectors catching the changing sunlight. As people sit reading below the pillars they are aware of the slow, subtle shifting thought patterns of these large beings overhead without being actually distracted by them. |
Interior View of Library
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Proposal drawing of projections and the five columns
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The giant heads face North, South, East and West. Each mouth projects a wavy glass "breath" along the bottom of the beam that is illuminated by a focused beam of light hidden inside the mouth. Base plates with upside down "diving" heads complete the transformation of the pillars into mysterious living presences.
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| Detail with reflected light on disc | Roof with water collector for interior projections | Detail with reflected light on disc |
| Interior Photo by Becket Logan |
 
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