Project Description

Pendragon was retained by Heidi Natura of Living Habitats, Chicago, IL to create ornamental wind chimes that are an artistic and musical metamorphosis of the concept of “dew-catchers” specified in the design of the “Green Roof” garden adjacent to the Presidential Suite on the top floor of the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the first LEED Certified building in the State of Arkansas. One of the themes of the Green Roof was “The Flowing River” as the building cantilevers over the wetlands adjacent to the Arkansas River to the north. The wind chime racks were constructed of aluminum due to the loading limitation of the existing roof structure.

Looking down on the racks from the meandering boardwalks you see spiraling forms reminiscent of the whirlpools and eddies in a gently flowing body of water. Viewed from the sides your eyes are draw along the curving racks by the wave forms which almost seem as if they are moving toward and away from the center and end spirals. The chime tubes are all tuned to the same pentatonic scale with the highest tones on the smaller and the lowest tones emanating from the largest rack. The 6 center tubes are the active chimes. The tubes at the sides are suspended so as to move in the wind but not touch each other giving an increased visual sense of movement without creating a confusion of sound while fulfilling the role of “dewcatchers” offsetting some of the moisture requirements of the plantings below.

LED light cords are mounted in the underside of the racks and powered by solar collectors on the penthouse roof. At night they cast a gentle light onto the chime tubes and plantings below while giving rise to a striking contrast between the black of the tubes and posts and the silvery reflective hangers of the non-playing tubes. The gentle lighting, the soft tones emanating from the chimes in combination with the visual contrast of dark and light produce a focal point of visual and auditory interest for the garden visitor and provide an artistic balance between the flatness of the roof with its low plantings and boardwalks and the upright quality of the three trellises in the garden.