131st Expedition Flag: Ancient Temples Aligned to the Cosmos – Peru & Beyond with Peter Davidson

Carrying an Expedition Flag, member #1257 Peter Davidson, architectural designer and Film & TV set designer, set off for to Peru to research archaeo-astronomical aligned temples, observatories and city-sites. For 45 years he envisioned investigating Machu Picchu and Peru to learn these ideas. In 1981 he had designed a client’s addition using solar alignments and again wants to create spaces that inspire people’s awareness of the nature.

His early design followed his architectural internship at The Architect’s Collaborative, founded by Walter Gropius, where he had successfully managed an engineering study of Solar Daylighting on the biggest solar daylighting design project then in the world. As he worked for months on the roof with sun dials & large models, many colleagues were curious, but not involved. When time came to give the client, the vice president of the Philippines, a presentation, although 21, he aced it. Turned out the client and he loved sun dials.

The 2024 and the 2025 Flag Peru trips of he and his wife are linked in their study of the solstice sunrise alignments of Machu Picchu’s Torreon. Machu Picchu research in June 2024 required special pre-dawn and full moon access, easily  done by archaeologist Raul Loayza. The 2025 research and 3D scans of part of Machu Picchu and Pisac Intihuatana, became the Peruvian government archaeological plan “Proyecto Yinty”, with all the wonderful red tape.

The 2025 research project was preceded by Peter’s trip north up the coast of Peru to research the 5000 year old city-state of Caral, considered one of the 5 “break thru” cities of civilization! Then onto the remote site of Chankillo – currently undeveloped for tourism, the oldest astronomical observatory discovered in the new world, dating about 2900 years old.

Learning of Caral during his earlier Peru trip, when mentioned briefly by his guide / friend Manolo Lazo, as if one wants to learn about the Incas, they really need to study Caral and experience the multi-thousand year history of older cultures that the Inca’s built upon. A new national museum south of Lima will be discussed. It’s under visited by tourists, yet has an exceptional presentation of the 5000 year old history which Peru has developed from.

During the 24 months of planning for Peru’s 2 trips, he also visited 7 other sites in North and Central America, although the journey seemed to be about design, there were spiritual surprises encountered along the way. He will share photos of sites that were the most inspiring. Peter noticing much missing answers at many sites in Peru, he created with Raul the “Proyecto Yinty” research project. It raises questions and probe answers about 2 sites, one in Machu Picchu, and the other at nearby Pisac, of it’s Intihuatana “temple” on the ridge at 11,500’ above. These investigations were inspired by the American educator Horace Mann’s famous quote, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity”.

This program was organized by Reymundo Perez #1219.