samitaur tower by eric owen moss. culver city, california.
the samitaur tower is an information tower located across from the new expo light rail line at the corner of hayden avenue & national boulevard in culver city. the tower will provide a changing art display for local viewing & offer a variety of graphic content & data on its five screens concerning upcoming events. all the buildings in the immediate area are governed by a 56 foot height limit but the samitaur tower is an exception to the rule. the tower is 72 feet high including an open-air, crete seating & staging space at its base that begins at minus 12 feet & houses all the electronic & media equipment for the tower.
the tower consists of five circular steel rings, approximately 30 feet in diameter that are stacked vertically at 12 foot floor-to-floor intervals. projection screens at each floor can be seen from passing cars. inside the screens, steel decks are provided for viewers to look out at the city. the tower has a glazed elevator in an enclosed glass shaft, and an open stairway to the top, so the tower will be used as viewing platform to overlook the city, but its primary objective is to distribute art & other relevant content to the local and in-transit audiences passing by.
there are several target audiences that account for the positioning of the five screens. first is the traffic on the santa monica freeway, several blocks to the north, one of the most highly trafficked freeway routes in los angeles. second, the intersection of la cienega boulevard & jefferson boulevard, several blocks from the site, another of the highly trafficked intersections in the city, and the location of the primary new, elevated train stop. third is the corner of hayden & national itself, adjacent to the project, which is also a signaled, highly trafficked east-west route. finally, there is one screen, just above grade level, that, unlike the other four, faces the re-development site. that screen will be used by local audiences, seated on the terraced concrete bleachers that step down to the below grade portion of the project where a stage for speakers & performers is provided.