Entering the court, the viewer appears to have stepped into a stage set of a clockwork. In sunlight the radiating shadow pattern of its roof structure lays across the recessed concrete area. Smaller elements of metal railings, stepping and seating platforms below emphasize the feeling of being inside a large mechanical device. The faceted glass wall partially enclosing the court on the second level multiplies the images, repeating them over and over. Will this whole thing start to move? A separation of the court and its occupants from the floor, roof and walls is not possible inside this oversized hinge-like juncture between buildings. The thirty foot high by thirty foot diameter volumetric space looks out onto a stepped concrete seating area and a large banked wedge of grass intersected by paths and a row of concrete posts leading out to other campus destinations. At night the rotunda is often transformed with lighting or drapery into a performance area allowing passers by to become part of the audience, or at least to stop momentarily and take note of the place.
Collaboration with architect, Adele Naude Santos