A STORM IS BLOWING FROM PARADISE
RUNNER UP
STEVEN SHIMAMOTO
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA
In the ethereal landscape of the desert, a contrast between monument and terrain signifies a tension between geological resources and human affliction.
This monument symbolizes a parasitic operation that reaches deep into the darkest side of humanity. It is a memorial for the exploitation of Mother Earth, the Native American mining communities, the genius of scientists, 130,000 individual lives, and the endless individuals to come that are affected by these operations.
Volcanic basalt stone wraps the perimeter of the 16 mile site. Within this, large boulders fill the interior. These boulders would erode and slip out of the open corners of the monument, eventually to become cemented into the geological strata; a physical recording of anthropocentric presence and perhaps, absence.
The monolith plays upon what has past and what is to come. Formally, it is the reversion to a geometric primitive that is resonant with Euclidean order and allows for a timeless monumentality. A composition that is reminiscent of the primordial forms of the ancients and all others to come.
This monument symbolizes a parasitic operation that reaches deep into the darkest side of humanity. It is a memorial for the exploitation of Mother Earth, the Native American mining communities, the genius of scientists, 130,000 individual lives, and the endless individuals to come that are affected by these operations.
Volcanic basalt stone wraps the perimeter of the 16 mile site. Within this, large boulders fill the interior. These boulders would erode and slip out of the open corners of the monument, eventually to become cemented into the geological strata; a physical recording of anthropocentric presence and perhaps, absence.
The monolith plays upon what has past and what is to come. Formally, it is the reversion to a geometric primitive that is resonant with Euclidean order and allows for a timeless monumentality. A composition that is reminiscent of the primordial forms of the ancients and all others to come.
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“A Klee drawing named “Angelus Novus” shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe that keeps piling ruin upon ruin and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.”
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North Corner | Present Day
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North Corner | Future Day
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Satellite Plan | Present Day
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Satellite Plan | Ice Age
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Satellite Plan | Post Ice Age
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DESIGNER INFO
website: https://fig19.tumblr.com/
instagram: @stevenshima
portfolio: https://issuu.com/steven.shimamoto/docs/ten_projects_nh
archinect: http://archinect.com/stevenshimamoto
website: https://fig19.tumblr.com/
instagram: @stevenshima
portfolio: https://issuu.com/steven.shimamoto/docs/ten_projects_nh
archinect: http://archinect.com/stevenshimamoto