WOJR

Tower of Winds is concerned with the cultivation of shared experiences. The project makes visible aspects of the environment that are omnipresent, conditions that we all share in common. As an object watched from a distance, the fabric in this installation registers the movement of the air; a barometer of local winds informed by global weather patterns. As an environment, it is a vertically oriented room, a tall drum with a frame at the top. The drum is made of three tiers, each with an increasing number of facets. Transitioning from an octagon near the ground to a smoother figure above, the geometry suggests a confluence of individual perspectives into a collective or shared view of the sky. Simultaneously, the sectional condition offers a horizontal gaze, outward from under the drum, of the Giardino delle Vergini gardens beyond on the Biennale grounds.

Image 1 – How will we live together?
Winds in Three Rings, Plan. Three concentric rings of fabric line the interior of a tall drum. Often in motion, the fabric rings fluctuate with the wind as they frame a view of the sky, merging a confluence of individual perspectives into a collective view of the weathers framed above.

Image 2 – Sneak peek of the project
Rock Constellation, Plan. A constellation of boulders anchors a tower above. Four of the rocks give rise to the scaffold of the drum, while the fifth is carved to offer a bowl-shaped basin. Water in the basin ripples and registers the movement of the wind, while acting as a mirror to the oculus overhead.

Principal: William O’Brien Jr. Project Managers: Adam Murfield, John David Todd
Designers: Grace McEniry, Justin Gallagher
Collaborators: Akane Moriyama, Quarra Stone Company