Desert View at Grand Canyon
by Roberta Byram
Title
Desert View at Grand Canyon
Artist
Roberta Byram
Medium
Photograph - Photos, Paper, Acrylic, Metal, Greeting Cards, Framed Or Prints Rolled In A Tube.
Description
Desert View at Grand Canyon by Roberta Byram.
The watchtower was the last of the series of Mary Colter-designed visitor concession structures at the Grand Canyon until her renovation of the Bright Angel Lodge in 1935. The tower was designed to resemble an Ancestral Puebloan watchtower, but its size dwarfs any known Pueblan-built tower. The closest prototypes for such a structure may be found at Hovenweep National Monument. The structure is composed of a circular coursed masonry tower rising from a rubble base. The base was intentionally designed to convey a partly ruinous appearance, perhaps of an older structure on which the watchtower was later built. The base is arranged within a large circle with the tower to the north. Tiny windows are irregularly disposed, some of which are themselves irregular in shape. The main space is the Kiva Room in the base structure, apparently roofed with logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel. The ceiling is a false structure concealing the roof structure that supports an observation deck. The Kiva Room features a fireplace with a large picture window directly above where the chimney would ordinarily go. Smoke is drawn away through an offset, concealed flue. The room still contains its original furnishings, which are part of the historic designation. A separate, apparently ruinous structure was actually built in that form to provide a storage place for firewood.circular balconies,
The tower rises as an open shaft lined by circular balconies overlooking the central space. Access from balcony to balcony is provided by small stairways. At the top the space is decked over, creating an enclosed observation level with large glazed windows. An open observation area on the roof of this space is now closed to visitors and is used for radio equipment. The steel and concrete structure of the observation level is concealed behind plaster, stone and wood. The tower is decorated by bold murals by Fred Kabotie, with other, petroglyph-style decorations by Fred Geary. Small windows in the tower's shaft let beams of light into the lower space.The tower also features a number of "reflectoscopes" — black mirrors to reflect the view of the canyon in a more abstract style, providing visitors an alternative view of the Canyon.
Uploaded
December 28th, 2019
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Viewed 206 Times - Last Visitor from La Spezia, SP - Italy on 04/25/2024 at 6:35 AM
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