Desert View Watchtower

This article is part of [Sí] , a personal project curatedby Marta López García where she wills to shed light on a twice silenced reality. The goal remains to recover and spread pieces of architecture displaced to the periphery; although this time focused on the work of female architects. Este artículo es parte de la serie [Sí] , comisariada por Marta López García que busca ofrecer una vision sobre una realidad doblemente silenciada. El objetivo es recuperar y difundir obras de arquitectura que han sido desplazadas a la periferia, teniendo como punto de partida proyectos de mujeres arquitectas. Ten years after finalizing Phantom Ranch, Mary Colter was asked to design a building that was able to catch visitors’ attention and create a relationship between them, the landscape and the Native Americans’ culture. The site, which was known as Navajo Point at the time, was accessible to the public just one year before and it comprised of a road that connected the South and East rims. The area was relatively underdeveloped compared to the cluster of tourist attractions stationed twenty-five miles to the South. The view from the rim´s edge was and is breath-taking and it is understandable why the Harvey Company was interested in develop the spot. The company’s decision to assign the project to Colter was wise, it needed someone able to design a building rich with history and did not attempt to compete with the view. The architect turned again to the ancient Indian ruins for inspiration. Diez años después de la finalización del ‘Rancho Fantasma’, Mary Colter recibió el encargo de proyectar un edificio capaz de atraer a los visitantes del Gran Cañón y de crear una relación entre ellos, el paisaje y la cultura indígena. El lugar elegido, conocido hasta entonces como Navajo Point, fue accesible al gran público sólo un año antes y consistía en una carretera que conectaba las orillas sur yeste.