Tim Sharp
From this far away it appears to consist of a tower and a rectangular block each with a geodesic dome on top of it. Even from here, about a crow kilometre away, the dome on the tower looks like repeating hexagons, while the one on the block shows it is constructed of triangles forming, appropriately, interlocking pentagons. The fact that I can see the structure beneath the skin means that it must be made of some kind of fabric. I walk slowly towards them, letting the beaten path lead the way until it seems to set off in the wrong direction. Resisting the invitation to make the same mistake twice, I stumble down the steep side of the dragon and into the semi-dark woods, aware that historically, during the Cold War, I would likely be in what was the prohibited security zone surrounding the complex. There is a little used path though and happily the undergrowth is not dense enough to hinder, merely to temporarily deflect. It is uphill now, as it should be, and I’m wondering about whether I should try to make tracks for the service road for the installation when I come across what appears to be part of an obstacle course for commandos. It turns out to be more peaceful in nature – a sign tells me it’s a training climb for an alpinist club. When I reach the gate that once must have been the sole entrance to the complex on the top of the hill, it is closed and
locked just as I had expected. My information suggested going round the perimeter to a point on the hillside further south keeping my eyes open for a ‘weakness in the defences’ there. But I’m intrigued by a handwritten sign offering a guided tour starting twenty minutes. The guide looks very informal and tells me that my information is somewhat out of date but still valid. Do I want a basic orientation? I do. He tells us —there are three others, a single woman who I could easily imagine in the role of an art historian if I was looking to cast a film, and a couple from the USA who are somewhat shocked and slightly indignant that the site is now private property —though some buildings are apparently occupied by an artist collective— and that they should be asked to pay. Initially, much of the site is as boringly functional as stripped offices usually are unless you’re a connoisseur of worn carpeting or spectral rectangles indicating absent desks, filing cabinets and supply cupboards. These admin buildings are a staggered row just behind the gate, site-control outposts, but we give them only a cursory glance. I tell the guide that I want to film and photograph and I will take time to do that. No problem. The sun has been periodically disappearing behind
11 on site review 46 :: travel
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator