WMAIA 2020 Design Awards
CITATION AWARD
Naomi Darling Architecture, LLC, MA
with Darrell Petit, LLC
On the Fine Arts Center Plaza at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Solar Time transformed a standard 20’ shipping container into a space focused on telling the time through the sun’s movement over the course of a day, over several months.
The project was sited on the most active urban plaza on campus to engage with the broader community by inviting people into Solar Time for a few minutes as they continued on their day.
Inside, light was directed through an oculus oriented directly south. An ovoid beam of light falling onto the CNC milled clock enabled visitors to interpolate the time on any given day.
Aside from the milled “clock”, the container was empty, a calm and meditative space allowing one to reflect on the power of the sun as the giver of light and life.
