“Architecture has been repeatedly used to enlighten
humankind about the workings of nature.”
-Anthony Aveni
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Pictured above is just one artistic concept for a design. A request for proposals (RFP) will provide the competitive mechanism to arrive at a final design. The winning proposals may involve several artists or just one. The selected artist(s) will work collaboratively with a team of astronomers, educators, engineers, and landscape architects. Design proposals will draw inspiration from design elements at ancient solar and sky calendars found in all parts of the world. The design of the open-air Memorial Solar Calendar will create an interior space that will provide a sense of enclosure and special purpose. Within that space a novel educational undertaking will unfold aimed at renewing our connection with the earth, the seasons, and the cultural patterns that have evolved from the human relationship with nature. The educational effort will be mediated through a series of integrated museum-like educational exhibits. Each serves as scientific instrument, educational tool, and work of art, all working together to engage the visitor in a form of time travel — back to a time when nature and culture were more intimately interconnected. The project has the support of the City of Berkeley, the Berkeley Unified School District, the Chavez Foundation, and relevant state approving agencies.
Earthen Berms
The basic architectural feature of the site will be that of a circular earthen landform (berm), within which various cross-disciplinary exhibits will be integrated. Berms, stone circles and dolmans are some of the oldest architectural forms. The berm will rise from 5′ high on the west to 8′ high on the east around a level central circle, 100′ in diameter. The 1.5 acre site is located on the waterfront of Berkeley, California on a 65′ high mound and is blessed with a 360º view of the horizon. It will have a 700′ wheel chair accessible pathway up to the site — the first ADA access to any of the mounds in the park. The berms will also have the practical protective value of providing a shield against urban light and sound pollution from a major highway to the east, and against regular strong winds. The general plans for the earthen landform and entry path have been completed and approved.
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Horizon Calendar
A horizon calendar utilizes the sunset or sunrise points on a horizon to plot the beginnings/endings of each season. The Request for Proposals (RFP) will involve a call to artistically frame the sunset and sunrise points on the horizon during the solstices and equinoxes to help bring added focus and drama to the alignments.
 Callendish Standing Stones, Scotland |
 Chaco Canyon, N. Mexico |
 13 Towers, Chankillo, Perú |
Meridian Calendar
A solar noon or meridian calendar, utilizes a shadow or beam of light cast by the sun when it is at its zenith in the sky (solar noon). The RFP will request an artistic interpretation of the meridian calendar at Chávez Park, which will include a 16’ shadow casting mechanism (gnomon), the surface upon which the shadow is cast, and the shadow lengths marking the solstices, equinoxes, and birthday of Cesar Chavez. A 16′ gnomon casts a shadow during the winter solstice that is approximately 30′ long during the winter solstice, 10′ long during the equinoxes, and approximately 4′ during the summer solstice. When standing at its base the visitor will be able look out over the central plaza and see the shadow move across its surface — a kinetic reminder that the moving shadow is the earth rotating on its axis, not the sun moving across the sky.
 Current Prototype |
 Gaocheng Observatory, China |
 Sun Dagger, New Mexico |
Chávez Homage: Four Directions/Four Virtues
The Request for Proposals will ask for an artistic interpretation (sculptural) of the four directions/four virtues homage to Chávez: hope, determination, courage, tolerance. The RFP will include the design of the virtue stones as well as their placement into the four cardinal directions of the perimeter circular berm. The design must fit harmoniously with the overall design of the complex.
 East |
 South |
 West |
 North |
César Chávez Birthday Stone Shadow
On March 31st at sunrise (approx. 7:15 am), the gnomon (shadow pole) casts a shadow that sweeps across the birthday stone in about 5 minutes. The RFP will request a full scale and more dramatic artistic interpretation of this phenomenon in combination with the overall design of the Meridian Calendar and birthday stone itself. The shadow pole (gnomon) in the eventual design will be 16 feet tall. The birthdate stone will be located approximately 50′ to 55′ away and will be set in the western perimeter circular berm.
 Sunrise on March 31st |
 Shadow cast on 31st |
 Shadow on Birthday Stone |
Lunar Calendar
The RFP will request the incorporation of designed sculptural elements into the eastern berm that will frame and dramatize the 18.5 year cycle of the moon rise along the eastern horizon between 28.5º north and 28.5º south (Major Standstill) and 18.5º north and 18.5º south (minor standstill). And the RFP will incorporate elements that will enhance the phenomenon of a monthly near simultaneous full moonrise and sunset.
 Tiwanaku, Bolivia 18.5 year cycle |
 Chimney Rock, Colorado |
Big Dipper/Cassiopeia as Seasonal Clock
Utilizing the seasonal location of the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia in the northern sky, the RFP will request a sculptural means of finding the north star and dramatizing the rotation of the earth. It is the clockwise rotation of the earth that makes it appear as if the big dipper and cassiopeia are rotating counterclockwise. Cassiopeia appears opposite to the Big Dipper, e.g., in the fall when the Big Dipper is invisible below the horizon, Cassiopeia is visible high in the night sky.
Light Chamber
Light chambers allow the rays of the sun to enter and illuminate the interior of the chamber at sunrise during the solstices or when the sun is at its zenith. Three concepts are being explored, one based on the Zenith Chamber at Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico , one based on Newgrange in Ireland, and one based on Jiyeon Song’s One-Day Poem Pavilion. All demonstrate the transitory, site-sensitive and time-based nature of light and shadow. The chamber can function as a solar calendar or project a poem, a message or a Chávez virtue.
 Zenith Chamber, Mexico |
 Newgrange Chamber, Ireland |
 Poem Pavilion |
On-Site Signage
The interactive educational signage at the site will be part of the design competition, and will provide a visitor friendly/ children friendly introduction to how each exhibit works. All signage and handouts will be consistent with the overall design of the site, and will incorporate Quick Response “QR” code applications that link the visitor, via smart phone camera applications, to our web content. For example this QR code will link you to the website. 
Web Presence
The RFP will seek an intuitive web and social media presence that will support and enhance the brick and mortar exhibits. The web content will provide informal educational components that can be enjoyed at home, in the classroom or at the memorial site.