Riyadh – Brown Daltas and Associates

Brown Daltas and Associates 1984-1985

Role: Project Designer, Rome, Italy

My first built example of built narrative architecture, this 60 meter high tower uses water, wind, stone and sunlight to represent the interaction of the four elements of nature – water, air, earth, and fire. The monument appears as an enormous black stone monolith set on the edge of the Saudi desert, eroded on the southern desert-facing facade and cracked in front.

Every hour on the hour, when all four elements align, water erupts out of the crack in front, enabling the tower to act as a timepiece for the entire city. The interior of the memorial functions as a water tower above and a museum of Islamic science below, set within a crypt and a sub-crypt. When the water erupts every hour, exhibits of ancient Islamic water toys begin to revolve and turn. Once the four elements move out of phase, the museum exhibits return to rest for another hour.