Moonrise At The Space Station

Nah, it's the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden, a geodesic dome that somehow contains four different climactic zones. The family went to an event at the garden Sunday night, more about which soon.  

Yesterday's photo was from the annual Annie Malone parade. The organization is a major provider of social and economic services to the area's African-American community. The parade is always a great photo op and there will be more from it, too, as soon as I can work it in. I think Olivier's comment on the Facebook version is correct. He just wanted to fly.

We ordered Madeleine her first camera today. After all, the child will be four years old in August. It's time to get started. There may be some guest posts. 

The Mother Ship Has Landed

That's what the Climatron makes me think of when it glows with green LEDs. The image below could be moon rise or set in another solar system.          

Angels On The South Side

We made it to the Garden Glow. A light rain was falling with a temperature of 38F/3C. It made our visit shorter than other years. Still, the display always has some old favorites and new arrangements.

Nothing changes in the top image. It's not really an angel but the statue of Persephone next to the home of Henry Shaw, who founded the garden in the 19th Century. Below, the silhouette of an angel in front of the Climatron, a geodesic dome.     

The Climatron

The Climatron is a big geodesic dome in the botanical garden. It is a greenhouse of sorts with an ingenious climate control system, dividing the space into cooler and warmer, wetter and dryer zones. It's spectacularly lit during the Garden Glow with the light display that continues into a reflecting pool. It's been around for 55 yrars and is considered one of the most architecturally significant buildings in America.              

Wonders Of The Plant Kingdom

Something else I found at the Climatron Saturday. I didn't check the name card but it looked like some kind of lily, maybe.  Mrs. C is the botanist around this house. I hardly know a lily from a liverwort.

My black and white flower photography is always inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe, one of my photography heroes. (Selection of his floral work here.) I could never dream of approaching that level unless I got a 4 X 5 view camera (mmm, one of those Mamiyas that cost as much as a small car, with some Zeiss lenses thrown in), an actual studio (no place to put one in my small house) and stuck my finger in an electric socket to re-arrange my neurons.

Post 'em If You Got 'em

Out of material. Just nothing new to post and it's not far enough into spring for public events to start. Shall I go dumpster diving in the archives? (Reminds me of this sad old song.) 

It was possible the cherry blossoms were starting at the Missouri Botanical Garden so I headed over. They weren't (another week, maybe two). Not much blooming yet outdoors so I went to the Climatron and straight into this. The sign called it torch ginger.                             

What's A Climatron?

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It sounds like it it could be the name of the heating and cooling system in a 1972 Buick (available at Ralph Spoilsport Motors). Actually, it's a big geodesic dome, now 50 years old, in the Missouri Botanical Garden that contains a variety of microclimates, from cool and dry to damp tropics, and a huge variety of plants.

This picture taken in the snow last weekend makes me think of the bottom of the ocean, a hemispherical shelter for air breathers, surrounded by coral.

Things are looking up at Downtown St. Louis 365 today.

Dark Leaf

Well, enough conceptual art for a while. In any event, we return to the beautiful Missouri Botanical Garden, which my family visited last weekend for the opening of the Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture exhibit. The most interesting building is the Climatron, a recreation of a lowland tropical forest under a geodesic dome. We think this plant was some kind of giant blackened philodendron. This leaf was almost a meter long. High drama in the plant world.

TOMORROW: That's a really good question.

The Climatron

Bits of the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden have been on a few of my earlier posts. This shot gives a better view of the whole structure. It is an ingenious building. In 1976, some association of architects named it as one of the 100 most significant architectural achievements in United States history. It is 175 feet/53 meters in diameter and 71 feet/21 meters high. Inside is a reproduction of a tropical rain forest.

Yeah, that's the same pool and Chihuly glass gumdrops as in the other pix.

TOMORROW: How about some architecture in black and white?

Bucky Fuller, Dale Chihuly and the Garden

More from the Missouri Botanical Garden. The signature building of the garden is the Climatron. It is a visually striking building built in the form of a geodesic dome, containing the environment of a lowland tropical forest. Many of the principles of this kind of structure were worked out by the visionary architect and designer, R. Buckminster Fuller. The Climatron is in the background of this photo.

Last year, a big exhibit of the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly was spread throughout the garden. Some of his work remains indefinitely, including these glass bulbs floating in the reflecting pool. The interplay of all these elements creates a complex image.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series