Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Beautiful Horizon

For the past three summers, Kim and I have met her parents and one of her brothers for a relaxing long-weekend of tent-camping at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. Though I am not a major camping- or beach-fanatic myself, the weekend is all about family and is usually filled with books, bikes, frisbees, games, campfires, yummy food, s'mores, leaky air mattresses, and the traditional evening trip into town for ice cream.

One unique (dare I say "architectural") feature along the Delaware shore is the presence of World War II observation towers, several of which are situated in and around Cape Henlopen State Park itself. These concrete towers were constructed as a first line of defense during the war and were used for spotting enemy submarines or warships along the Atlantic coast. One of the towers near the campsite is open for visitors to climb and has a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware, and New Jersey.

Although the towers were clearly designed with function in mind over aesthetics, I actually find them quite interesting due to their pure cylindrical form and simple punched apertures. The narrow, horizontal, ribbon-like observations windows provide a stunning viewpoint for which to view the vast horizon of the Atlantic Ocean. Circulation up the tower is via a spiral staircase at the center of the cylinder, which only adds to the drama of emerging from the darkness of the tower interior to the observation levels.


Sunlight streams in through the narrow apertures and illuminates the dark interior of the cylindrical tower in intersting ways.


No comments: