Celestial events, such as Toronto’s upcoming 2024 solar eclipse, have the capability for profound effect, reminding humanity of our own terrestrial geography via the presentation of our shared heavenly geometry. Our proposal for IceBreakers creates an educational home for Toronto natives to explore the geometry of the umbral shadow overlaid on the mapping of earth. Cartographers have historically struggled with the depiction of the earth, as spherical geometry cannot be ‘unrolled’ on a planar surface without distortion. In 1929, Samuel Whittemore Boggs, developed the Boggs Eumorphic Projection, a pseudo-cylindrical interrupted projection, which allows the earth to be unrolled with ‘interruptions’.
/ Diagrams
The pavilion, uses this mapping projection of the earth wrapping a cylindrical enclosure, who’s “interruptions” form doorways. The exterior is adorned with a constellation of apertures that follow the paths of the umbral shadows of Solar and Annular Eclipse from the years 2017 – 2050. Upon entering the pavilion, visitors are presented with a map that is synchronized with the apertures of the umbral shadow map, providing an exploration of the upcoming solar eclipses over the next several decades in relationship to earth’s continental mass.
/ Drawings
/ Project Team
Jonathan A. Scelsa, Jennifer Birkeland
/ Project Info
/ Project Type - Folly
/ Location - Winter Wonderland
/ Status - Design Competition
/ Project Date - 2017