/ The Vanishing Sunrise

“One of the most powerful symbols for the life force is the Sun”(Canadian Heritage Information Network, 2003). Some mysterious topography or devices found to be used for observing the sun in some ancient indigenous sites . Some spiritual leaders have special knowledge of Sun and other celestial bodies. These indigenous astronomers used this knowledge for observational topography or devices to observe sunrise which can be used as a solar calendar to determine when to plant and harvest and gather for ceremonies. However, due to the density of buildings in the urban environment. People rarely have the opportunity to see sunrise and realize how important a role it had in terms of time marker in the past.

Therefore, we want to use topography to point out the direction of sunrise on the summer solstice, spring and fall Equinoxes and winter solstices to evoke discussions about the vanishing sunrise and create a new sun calendar in U of T west campus.

Collaborator: Siyun Xue

Location: UofT West Campus, Toronto

Professors: Liat Margolis, Terence Radford, Elise Shelley

Project Annual/ Level: Mar-Apr, 2021. MLA

Studio Design

Sun Movement

We calculated the orbit of the sun on West campus by using longitude and latitude and got the angle of sunrise at the equinoxes and solstices. However, due to the sunrise is blocked by buildings, we intended to commemorate the vanishing sunrise by highlighting the direction of the sunrise on these three special dates.