Bok Tower
Rising 205 feet above the Lake Wales Ridge, Bok Tower is one of Florida's most remarkable pieces of architecture. Milton B. Medary designed it in 1929, blending Gothic Revival proportions with Art Deco detail. The facade is built from pink and gray Georgia marble layered with tan coquina stone. Above it, colorful tile grilles by Enfield Pottery and carved stone by Lee Lawrie tell the story of nature and creation, and the brass entrance door depicts scenes from Genesis. Set inside Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.'s gardens and mirrored in its reflecting pool, the tower is architecture and landscape designed as one.
This series follows the tower from context to craft. The aerial establishes scale and setting, a single vertical rising out of the canopy, while the ground-level views let the trees frame its form against the sky. Moving closer, the images focus on materials and detail: the veining of the marble, the depth of the carved tracery, the glow of the mosaic windows, and the quiet symmetry of the arched entrance above the lily pond. Each frame was composed with straight verticals and natural light, to honor the original design intent and show how every surface was meant to be seen.
