February 11–12: Utö – site + lighthouse

The temperature took a turn for the frigid.

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The requisite morning shot shows the remaining skims of snow from the squall.

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Not much heat to be gained from the sun today.

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There were beautiful altocumulus textures all day on the 11th, though.

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More altocumulus.

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And yet more, around sunset.

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Clearer skies to the south.

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The next day was as cold as it looks, and there had been another light snowfall overnight.

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On that day, we went to explore our project site (Kattrumpan), which is a military area, but we got permission to enter it.

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The lookout tower on the western edge of the site.

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A jetty, which would play an important part in my design. The project was the "Sanctuary of Silence," a sort of non-denominational monastic retreat.

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An old brick-plaster building next to the road going through the site.

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Looking back toward the village and the lighthouse.

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Bunker.

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A boathouse near the jetty.

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And then, in the evening, we got quite a special tour of the interior of the lighthouse. Note the massiveness of the walls.

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The stairs were steep and many.

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Great timber structure for the floors.

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Through this hatch you can see the grand hall in the level below; this level is a chapel.

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We even got to see the lighthouse lens itself.

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Here it is. Note that the lenses are arrayed in a rhombic shape (if you're looking at it from directly above), which means that the angles and thus the timing between the projected light beams alternate between short and long. I had noticed how the beams came by in quick pairs separated by longer intervals and, I think, had thus conjectured that the lenses had a rhombic arrangement, so it was rewarding to have my hypothesis confirmed!

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Looking up into the inside of the light.

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The light on the back wall.

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The chapel.