The decision to attend the call to provide the museum of science with a sundial, forced us to thoroughly study these artifacts. By doing so, we strengthened our first intuition. We loved the ingenious genesis of these tools that synthesize the motions of the Earth in the solar system, since ancient times, based on observation of the shadows. The proposal also incorporates our concern about the excessive occupation of space. Thus, the design shows the passing of time, reflects the adjustments between civil and solar time, it serves as a bench and it takes other functions provided by park users. We also managed to locate it in a garden area, avoiding hindering the normal traffic.
The multi-functional fold of steel, 50mm thick and 20 tons weight, replaces the gnomon of traditional sundials and appears as an irregular dihedral on one of the beds of grass in the park. Its forms were specified accurately in order to reveal the passing of time. The hours are shown with a central beam, and the rest with the shadow cast on the horizontal quadrant.
TECHNICAL DATA
DESIGNER: Pedro Romera García, Ángela Ruiz Martínez |Romera y Ruiz Arquitectos S.L.P.|
DEVELOPPER: Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
