The Common Chord
A radical but buildable Venice–Berkeley civic bell forum: a campanile unfolded horizontally into an open public gathering space. Three thick rectangular reinforced-masonry pylons stand in one left-to-right row on a flat stone-paved footprint, with one low pylon at the left, one medium pylon in the middle and one tallest pylon at the right. All three support a single long horizontal engineered-timber bell truss at the same bearing level; the middle and right pylons extend unequal distances above it. Do not create a central tower, spire, church facade or symmetry. Pylons have pale warm lime render, dressed stone feet and small recessed service apertures; the tallest contains the stair with a vertical sequence of deep slit windows on its rear face.
The bridging chamber is open-sided and rectangular, formed from redwood top and bottom chords, vertical posts, diagonal braces, visible steel bearing shoes and a narrow guarded maintenance walkway along the rear. Three bronze bells of different sizes hang from crossbeams within the two structural spans, asymmetrically grouped with two smaller bells in the left span and one large bell in the right. The bells hang clear of the public space, enclosed by the chamber's frame. A thin patinated-copper roof runs along the chamber, folding into three broad shallow pleats with ridges parallel to its long axis; exposed timber underside facets provide an acoustic canopy. The roof does not turn into gables or a pagoda.
Below the elevated chamber, two shallow fans of broad stone seating steps rise above the flat pavement at front-left and rear-right, leaving a level diagonal passage through the public court. Bench edges have timber sitting strips and precisely fitted stone corners. Both ends expose the truss depth and copper roof folds; the back has the guarded service walk and the tall pylon's discreet door. The expensive work is concentrated in the bronze instruments, timber joints and public seating, with plain plaster elsewhere. Keep the silhouette predominantly horizontal, the unequal pylons clearly legible and the central gathering void generous.