The Kessler Campanile is an

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

located at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Designed by artist Richard Hill, a

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

graduate, it was originally constructed for the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. It is named after Richard C. Kessler, Tech graduate and former head of

Days Inn Days Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1970 by Cecil B. Day, who opened the first location in Tybee Island, Georgia. The brand is now a part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Parsippan ...

s. It is frequently referred to as "The Campanile" or "The Shaft" (a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

reference to student opinion on the school's difficult curriculum). The amphitheater and the Campanile reopened in 2011 after a two-year-long reconstruction as part of the ongoing Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons construction.

Location

The Kessler Campanile is located near the center of Georgia Tech's campus, in front of its student center and directly down Tech Walkway (commonly/formerly known as Skiles Walkway) from the recently styled "

Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major cent ...

," the campus' historical center. The campanile is surrounded by a 300-seat pavilion, a gathering place for the Georgia Tech community. It is visible from many areas of central campus.

Design

The 80-foot-tall campanile has the rough appearance of a twisted

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

, tapering towards the top and capped with a pyramidal piece. It is constructed of 244 stainless steel plates, with each rotated slightly to produce the swirling pattern as height increases. The design for the Campanile came from Richard Hill, who received both his undergraduate and MFA degrees from the

Lamar Dodd School of Art The Lamar Dodd School of Art is the art school of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States. History In 1927, the University of Georgia’s board of trustees voted to establish ...

at the University of Georgia. It came to fruition with the help of Georgia Tech alumnus Vic Williams, who created the CAD drawings for the Campanile. The structural Engineering was designed by Georgia Tech alumnus Jim O'kon, P.E. The distinctive peaks intentionally recall the design of

Tech Tower The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building, commonly known as Tech Tower, is a historic building and focal point of the central campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Locate ...

, the school's traditional symbol and oldest building. Following its completion, the structure's peak design was incorporated into the university's branding as a new symbol for the school.

Music

The campanile is able to play several songs, including

Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech "(I'm a) Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives in 1895, the lyrics of which are bas ...

, the university's fight song through specially designed speakers that reproduce the

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

"chime" sound of bells. While it used to play the

Westminster Quarters The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

to mark the passing of time, it has been silent since 2009.

References

{{Georgia Tech Navbox Towers completed in 1996 Georgia Tech buildings and structures Towers in Georgia (U.S. state) Bell towers in the United States Twisted buildings and structures Tourist attractions in Atlanta