Movatterモバイル変換

Desert View Watchtower.

Grand Canyon Desert View Watchtower

Build a structure that provides the widest possible view of Grand Canyonyet harmonizes with its setting: this was architect Mary Colter's goalwhen the Fred Harvey Company hired her in 1930 to design a gift shop andrest area at Desert View. Colter's answer was the Watchtower.

A perfectionist, Colter scrutinized every detail, down to the placement ofnearly every stone. Each stone was handpicked for size and appearance.Weathered faces were left untouched to give the tower an ancient look.With a lavish, highly publicized dedication ceremony, the Watchtower openedin May 1933.

The Indian Watchtower is at the eastern end of the south rim of theGrand Canyon. From a distance the building's silhouette looks like theAnasazi watchtower it was meant to mimic. In actual size the tower isconsiderably larger than any known Anasazi tower. In plan the structureis composed of one enormous circle at the north, a small circle at thesouth, an gently arced forms connecting the two. The largest circle andthe arced portions are the sections of that building that are just onestory in height. The smaller circular plan is for the tower itself, morethan five stories high. The building sits out on a promontory overlookingthe Grand Canyon.

Historical 1932 picture of DesertView watchtower. Photo by Santa Fe Railroad.

The most noteworthy aspect of the exterior is the stonework--a varietyof uncoursed rubble below and coursed sandstone above, with decorativepatterns of triangular stones adding architectural interest directlybelow the tower's parapet and other bands of color masonry adding evenmore visual interest. Colter's use of texture in the masonry creates a visualdepth. Large walls sections of the tower, for instance, have a relativelysmooth finish that in places is broken up by slightly larger stonesprotruding from the wall surface. Fenestration in the tower isirregular--tiny windows or those with irregular shapes--with the exceptionof the observation area at the top of the structure where large trapezoidsof plate glass allow the viewer to see the surrounding countryside inall directions. Colter's careful massing of forms added more architecturalemphasis to the tower.

Historical 1932 picture of the Hopiroom at Desert View watchtower. Photo by Santa Fe Railroad.

The main entrance into the structure leads into the largest room ofthe building, originally known as the kiva room, that is circular inplan. The ceiling is made up of logs salvaged from the old Grand ViewHotel on Horseshoe Mesa at the Canyon. The logs are laid in a patternfound in prehistoric native American architecture and still used insome Indian structures today. A ladder from the center of the room leadsup to an opening in the ceiling that looks functional but is actuallyfalse. A low, arched fireplace on one edge of the room has a small mantleand am enormous picture window directly above it where the chimneynormally would be--the flue actually draws the smoke from an upper corner.The floor of this room is flagstone, and walls are stone. This roomhas undergone little change since construction. Directly above thisroom on the roof of this part of the structure is an outdoor observationdeck. Other spaces on the first floor are used for sales areas, as thisis, and a small amount of storage space. The kiva room contains heavy,rustic furnishings of large chunks of wood and rawhide, also includedin this nomination.

The most architecturally impressive section of the building isundoubtedly the tower interior. The space is an open shaft surrounded bycircular balconies edging the walls and small staircases that lead up tosubsequent levels. Only the uppermost observation area has a completefloor area covering the circular plan, and large plate-glass windowsoverlooking the surrounding expanses of the vast southwest. The rooftopobservation area, reached by a ladder of sturdy log construction, isclosed to the public. The steel and concrete structure of this space isentirely plastered and all of the walls are covered with murals. Themost distinct images, painted by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie depict variousaspects of Hopi mythology and religious ceremonies. The other muralsdone by Fred Greer are more subtle in color and purposefully softer indetail, and are copies of prehistoric pictographs and petroglyphs. Thetiny windows of the tower let in a minimal amount of light which addsto the cave- like, mystical atmosphere of the space. Experiencing themultiple levels and circular balconies and the hundreds of prehistoricimages inundates the viewer with an overwhelming sense of the southwest.