SITE:
The tower of the building, and the courtyard within the building. (On the one hand, the building pokes up out of itself; it shoots up toward the sky, as a tower. On the other hand, the building closes itself up in itself; it wraps around itself and forms a courtyard inside.)

PROJECT:
One part of the site affects the other: the highest point affects the lowest plane – what’s up near the sky affects what’s down on the ground -- the building affects the landscape -- the tower changes the courtyard.

High in the air, up above the rest of the building, the tower holds up a sensor, a system of feelers, a set of tentacles. Propped up on the tower, like the propeller of a helicopter, is a wind-wheel, a wind turbine. The turbine is installed on top of a cylinder, the mechanical core at the top of the tower; the diameter of the turbine is the same as that of the mechanical core – when the turbine turns in the wind, it’s as if the top of the building is turning.

Down below, inside the courtyard, the landscape is cut; a ring is cut into the landscape, separating one circular band of ground from the rest of the landscape. The separated ring of ground is a turntable, with a built-in track that fits over a circle of wheels below the ground.
When the turbine catches the wind, and spins in the wind, up on the tower, it generates electricity for a set of motors down in the courtyard, under the ring of landscape:powered by the electricity generated from above, the ring of landscape revolves on the wheels below it.

The ring of landscape moves slowly, it’s just barely moving: the turntable makes two revolutions every hour, the landscape moves less than one centimeter per second. The revolving ring displaces the landscape: grass separates from grass, and walkway from walkway – a large tree loses its place in a line of trees – two smaller trees become dislodged from a grove, and a bench comes away with them -- a hedge is loosened from a set of hedges – a lamp-post slips away from a line of lamp-posts.

When you stand near the building, at the edge of the courtyard, you see the landscape in the middle of the courtyard change slowly, slowly, right in front of your eyes; you know the tree is ‘here’ – you look away for a while – you look again, and now it’s ‘there.’ Where you stand, you know where you are: the ground is stable, you’re sure of your ground. As you walk across the lawn, toward the middle of the courtyard, you feel the earth move – slowly, softly – under your feet; you’re being moved as you move, you can’t walk a straight line; you can stop walking and let the ring of landscape take you where it wants -- as the world turns, you’re turned.

It’s night; above you, light glows up from the top of the tower, up toward the sky. As the turbine generates electricity to power the landscape below, it generates its own light-source; light shines up from the top of the mechanical core, up through the turbine above it. As the wind-wheel turns, its blades cut the light and modulate the light – the light flashes as the wind blows.