Summer 2007

High Timekeeper

Campus to Gain New Landmark

A replica of history’s most important solar clock will become the University of Oregon’s newest landmark.

The project to recreate ancient Rome’s Solarium-Horologium grew out of an interdisciplinary History of Science course developed with a Williams Fund award for enhancing the undergraduate curriculum.

“This is the only project of its kind in the United States,” said John Nicols, professor of history and classics. “We are building a functioning work of art that embodies scholarship of the arts and sciences.”

Nicols said the UO obelisk will be thirty-five feet tall, about half the size of the original, with a seamless bronze coating rather than hieroglyphic carvings. Over time, the bronze will develop the same verdigris patina as two other campus landmarks, the statues of The Pioneer and the Pioneer Mother.

A temporary wooden model of the obelisk will stand on the Memorial Quadrangle from June until December so that scientific tests can be completed.

The permanent location for the UO obelisk has yet to be finalized. A model of the campus master plan created by Ellis Lawrence, founding dean of the UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts, included an obelisk.

The project will be privately funded, with costs to be determined after a site is chosen. To contribute, contact Jane Gary, jgary@uoregon.edu, (541) 346-3851. To learn more about the project, go to the website solarium.uoregon.edu.

—Melody Ward Leslie