The Overlook is organized as a single, eight-foot wide ribbon of concrete that emerges from the earth, rising and falling as it moves to the edge of the cliffs. Along its 150-foot length are eight volumes that open and close to the sky. From a distance the form dissolves and reemerges as line or plane in response to the quality of light, the shape and intensity of shadow and changing point of view. Drawing closer, held in the hollow wall, the surfaces are cut by a datum that establishes a specific reference to the body and to the surrounding landscape. As the form extends to the south, the land falls away, at first gently, then steeply down to the level of the river. Across the Columbia, a flat stone outcropping provides a focal point for the Overlook, both anchoring it to its place and extending its energy into the high desert beyond........
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