Principia

PRINCIPIA

Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon

Commissioned by:
Metropolitan Service District, Portland, OR:
in conjunction with the Metropolitan Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts in Architecture Program

Dimensions :
Overall: H 120′ x 40′ Diameter (H 3658 cm. x 1219 cm. Diameter)

Materials :
Brass, Stainless Steel, Steel, Stone, Epoxy terrazzo, Fiberglass, Mechanisms, Gold.

Fabrication : Lathe Toolworks (John Long, Ralph Bartholomew)

Principia consists of three major components, occurring vertically, one above the other. Under an immense sky-lit glass tower, a 30-foot terrazzo roundel is set into the floor of the building. The floor is a richly pigmented ultramarine blue and Pompeian red matrix, inlaid with blue and clear glass cullet. Discs of marble and semi-precious stones are delineated with brass. Evoking a celestial chart or ephemeris, the floor establishes the dynamic relationship; the earthbound alignment for the two suspended elements above.

A massive 950 pound, 3 foot diameter brass spherical Foucault pendulum swings from a point high in the glass spire. The slow, hypnotic grace of the pendulum is the dynamic focal point, as it swings 20 feet above the public below. Suspended horizontally, just below the pendulum, a 40 foot diameter gilt crown of slim gilt tapers hovers, providing visual reference to the rotation of the floor, building, and earth.

In a building forever in flux, Principia‘s Foucault pendulum reveals the eternal invisible forces so omniscient and yet not readily apparent in a structure dedicated to the moment. The observer is propelled to contemplate ones relative position between stasis and eternity.