Breathing Tower
1971
41.5 x 59.5 cm
Ink and pastel on tracing paper
Four drawings, sketching a kinetic sculpture designed for the Hayward Gallery, which uses Thames tidal levels to change its form.
Breathing Tower Proposal 1971
32’ at maximum height
Stainless steel, neon, hydraulics.
Breathing Tower is a slowly transforming structure made from 15 upturned conical sections which fit into each other. Using hydraulics, the separate sections move upwards and, as they do, the form changes from a convex stupa or concave parabolic tower to a stepped ziggurat. As it grows each segment reveals a new ring of colour.
Designed for the Hayward Gallery this hydraulic sculpture using the water of the Thames was unfortunately never made.
Images 3 and 4 show alternate contraction possibilities.
