SUMMER SOLSTICE AT STONEHENGE

from “Buildings of the Season” by John M Johansen

At early dawn we follow the ancient leys of Salisbury plain.

We find our way not by sight, as they are invisible,

but rather guided by emanating magnetic forces.

Their pulse intensifies as we approach our destination.

At last, the wraiths of night withdraw

revealing in dim light, the majestic standing stones of Stonehenge.

We touch the surfaces of liken, fern and moss

of these great stone-capped megaliths as we pass into the circle.

These mighty shafts were moved some 4 millennia ago

from distant Wales and placed here they say by giants.

By giants indeed! Yet giants of high intelligence;

a priesthood of engineers, astronomers and architects as well.

These early Britons waited here each year for Sun

to reach alignment with headstone and with altar;

to mark the day when Sun, seen through mortal eyes, stood still.

From this, these agrarians set their year long calendar,

to order their lives, their cattle and crops in devoted husbandry,

to synchronize order on their Earth with that of a greater Cosmos.

For guidance they listened to the voices of their Gods.

Their god, the Sun, had risen this day to engage their

Earth Goddess in the most impassioned embrace of all the year.

This was the time to celebrate in their procreation.

Her bounteous new life in all its forms

they expressed in solemn ritual as well in antic joy.

We come upon this mark which man has made upon his Earth;

a mark expressed in three most disparate terms;

a feat of high technology; an unfailing solar timepiece;

a temple carpeted in emerald sods.

We join these early Britons in common faith at Stonehenge

where they dared to take the measure of their Gods.

ELEMENTS OF SUMMER

Inspired by the power of the ancient structures, Johansen expanded his earlier designs and incorporated symbolism into his architecture. In an exploration of the buildings he designed in the early 1950s to the late 1970s, the Season of Summer journeys into an intensely inventive, productive time in Johansen’s career. Fueled by a tireless drive to create - and a quest for innovation that continually pushed all boundaries of his architectural process - Johansen created buildings that had never been seen before. Filmed explorations of Johansen in some of his buildings include the Goddard Library, the Mummers Theater, the Greenhouse House, and Johansen’s own Tent House.

Regarding the creation of some of his most outrageous architecture, Johansen remarked, “I was weary of pretentiousness, perfection, and eloquence in the work of most contemporary architects, and as a means of mocking them, I adopted the humble virtues of improvisation, economy of means, direct solutions, even humor... ‘Ad-hocism’ may be said to describe this attitude and approach. It deals with immediacy, the here and now, with what most effective course of action can be taken without deliberation or idealistic notions of perfection.”