"Those of us who are concerned with building tend to forget too easily that all the life and soul of a space, all of our experiences there, depend not simply on the physical environment, but on the pattern of events which we experience there."
The Timeless Way of Building
-Christopher Alexander

In July, 2004 the City Council of Berkeley unanimously endorsed the project's Phase I design after considerable review and approval by the Waterfront, Public Works and Civic Arts Commissions. The design concept emerged from a team of artists, astronomers, landscape architects, engineers, architects and educators under the guidance of the Kala Art Institute. The design represents a meeting of sculpture, science, education and culture.

The Design Framework

The purpose of the Solar Calendar Project is to create a permanent outdoor public art and education destination in the form of an ancient solar calendar. The Calendar will be designed to be compatible with the 90-acre landscape of César Chávez Park. The 1.5 acre site is located on a 65' high mound and is blessed with a magnificent 360 degree view of the horizon.

The site will "house" up to nine integrated art/science/educational instruments (i.e., interactive museum-like exhibits) that will combine to produce a synergistic effect. Each one will cumulatively remove the perceptual impediments to one of the simple wonders of our existence, the rhythm of the seasons (both natural and cultural).

The project will unfold in three phases:

Phase I: Installation of Berms and ADA Pathway

The primary architectural feature of Phase I is that of two semi-circular earthen berms around a level central circle, 90' in diameter. The berms will provide a sense of enclosure and of being within a special space. The path will provide the first wheel chair access to the park's many rolling mounds .. The Phase I design will allow the site to continue to function as:

• a naked eye observatory unaided by modern scientific instruments

• a site for seasonal reflection and renewal, and

• an informal learning center for the general public and teachers

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Phase II: Creation and Testing of Prototype Exhibits
Phase II involves the experimentation with and installation of nine fully functional and temporary instrument-like exhibits. Performance standards for each will be established. Six will be permanent exhibits on naked-eye astronomy, one will be a permanent four directions/four virtues homage to César Chávez, one will be a traveling season-related life science based exhibit, and one will be a traveling exhibit on the sky, ancient civilizations and seasonal celebrations.

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Phase III: Final Artistic Interpretation of Prototypes
With the performance and size parameters of each prototype exhibit established in Phase II, a competition will be held to give the functional art/science/educational instruments a permanent, dramatic artistic interpretation. That outcome will define Phase III.

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