Visited Sept. 13-17, 2022
By Janell
You might have noticed that our USA map on the home page is almost complete. We've put another sticker on: Missouri. The city of St. Louis was our first destination in Missouri.
Our first stop in St. Louis was Citygarden, a scupture garden in the heart of downtown. It's three acres of art and lush landscaping. I was appreciative of the plentiful shade, as it was a toasty, humid day.
Eros Bendato
by Igor Mitoraj
Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels
(aka Pinocchio)
by Jim Dine
Scarecrow
by Donald Baechler
Big Suit
by Erwin Wurm
Samarkand
by Jack Youngerman
Kindly Geppetto
by Tom Otterness
Femmes au Perroquet
by Fernand Léger
In the heart of Gateway Arch National Park, directly underneath (literally underground), the center of Gateway Arch, is the Museum at the Gateway Arch. It's a museum about much more than just the Arch. (By the way, that's not a typo; this "Arch" seems to always be capitalized. I don't know why.) As their website states, the Museum at the Gateway Arch is where you can "Trace the story of the Native Americans, explorers, pioneers, and rebels who made America possible." Indeed! We refreshed our memories about a lot of U.S. history, but we also learned a few things too.
For instance, do you know why the U.S. dollar is called "a buck"? It stems from the days of the fur traders in Colonial St. Louis. Deerskins, prepared by the Osage Indians, were the primary trading unit of St. Louis, and they had a specific international value which could be translated into the monetary systems of the world's great trading nations. A deerskin was equal to 5 French livre, 4 British shillings, or one Spanish peso or U.S. dollar. So the next time you say something costs "a buck" instead of "a dollar", remember that the term comes from the value of a deerskin as handled by the early St. Louis merchants.
In the museum you could even hop into a dugout canoe and pretend to be Lewis or Clark, and paddle up the Missouri.
A glimpse behind the scenes
And now about that Arch!
The Arch is truly fascinating! Until a short time ago, we didn't know that you could go up into the Arch. I thought of it as just a massive, decorative piece of art. But it's so much more! The Arch turned out to be the highlight of St. Louis for me!
In 1947 a national competition challenged architects to design a memorial that would evoke the grand scale and drama of the nation's westward expansion. The judges chose Finnish Architect, Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch from among 172 entries.
A quick shout out to our Finnish friends in Helsinki: did you know the St. Louis' Gateway Arch was designed by a Finnish man? You probably did. (They're pretty smart folks!)
Born in Helsinki, Finland in 1910, Eero was the son of Eliel Saarinen, a noted and respected architect. Eero's mother Loja Saarinen was a gifted sculptor, weaver, photographer, and architectural model maker. The Saarinens immigrated to the U.S. in 1923 when Eero was 13 years old. The move was due to the fact that Eero's father Eliel, was asked to become the first president of the Cranbrook Institute of Architecture and Design, near Detroit, Michigan.
For the 1947 contest jurors choosing the Arch design was a leap of faith. It was beautiful, but nothing like it had ever been built. In the final round, Saarinen's design was chosen unanimously on the first vote, even though most jurors were not sure that it could be built!
The Gateway Arch stands 630' (192 meters) tall and 630' wide. Its triangular stainless steel sections taper from 54' on each side at the base to 17' at the top.
The Making of a Monument, from the National Park Service's Gateway Arch flier:
The structure of the Gateway Arch, built between 1963 and 1965, is a sandwich made of stainless steel on the outside, carbon steel on the inside, and concrete in the middle.
Nothing like this had ever been built or even attempted. How could workers be sure the legs would meet at the top? How could they keep it from tipping over? The plans called for exact measurements of the two freestanding legs as each piece was welded into place. Post-tensioning rods made of steel placed within the back side of each leg kept the structure from tipping over until the final section could stabilize the 630-foot structure. Workers struggled against high winds, biting cold, and searing heat, coupled with dizzying heights and uneven surfaces. On the final day of construction an excited audience watched as the crane settled the keystone into place.
The museum offered a 29-minute film (below) about the construction of the Arch. To many of you, I'm sure that sounds as fun as watching paint dry, and I would have been in that same camp . . . BUT now, after having seen the film, I'm here to tell you that it was fascinating and even a bit scary to watch. It is old-fashioned, unlike the movies of today, so you may find the start a bit slow and want to skip ahead ten minutes or so. At about 18 minutes into it is when I found myself holding my breath a bit; as if I could help those men to not fall off of the beam by not breathing . . .
One thing you'll notice while watching the film is that these guys didn't even wear safety harnesses . . . at 630' up in the air! We asked a park ranger about that afterward, and he said that the workers had tried harnesses, but they found them too cumbersome; so they all opted not to wear them. Today, harnesses wouldn't be optional, but I'll also bet that the harnesses of today are much less restrictive than the harnesses of the 1960's.
At the start of the project it was estimated that 13 men might lose their lives during construction! Fortunately, not a one did.
For those of you with a shorter attention span (or just a busier day), the 35-second video (below) of the placement of the final piece might be more your style:
Conventional elevators could not negotiate the curve of the Arch, so a tram system was created in just two weeks by elevator designer Richard Bowser. This tram system transports one million people to the top of the Arch every year. The model of the tram cars (above) was on display in the museum, as well as the hands-on piece (below), where one can turn the dial and watch the simulated tram cars move up the Arch.
In 1948, 38-year old Eero Saarinen's career was launched with the Gateway Arch project. He went on to design other big projects like churches, embassies, corporate headquarters, sports arenas, and airline terminals. Each building was unique. His style of architecture arose from considering the building's purpose, its location, and its surroundings. "Every object, large or small, has a relationship to its neighbors", he said. "If it is a building, the townscape will affect the solution."
Regarding the Gateway Arch project, Saarinen was quoted in 1959 as saying, "Neither an obelisk nor a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on this site or for this purpose. But here, at the edge of the Mississippi River, a great arch did seem right."
This scale model (above) of the Arch is one of many used by Eero Saarinen and his design team as they worked out the exact shape of the structure between 1957 and 1961. It may be the last surviving model at this scale. (It is a normal sized chair, so you can get an idea of the size of the scale model Arch.)
The Tulip Chair (also above) was one of Eero Saarinen's most famous and lasting furniture designs. Created in 1956 for the Knoll Company of New York, the Tulip Chair sat on a single pedestal leg, eliminating what Saarinen called "the forest of legs under a table". The tram cars which take passengers to the top of the arch contain a similar model of chair. They are the original tram seats designed by Saarinen and still in use today.
Sadly, Eero Saarinen did not live to see his Arch constructed. In 1961, just as most of the design problems were ironed out, Saarinen died suddenly from cancer, at the age of 51. His partner, John Dinkeloo oversaw the construction.
Now, after all that talk about the Arch, let's go UP it! The first thing we have to do is get in one of the tram cars.
We were assigned to Car #5, and we were told to wait on the step in front of our car's door.
The door opened, the previous occupants exited, and we entered the capsule, er . . . I mean tram car.
You can see that there won't be any standing in the tram car; just get in and take a seat. The walls curve over one's head, so Marty couldn't even sit up straight. There were five seats in each car, but fortunately our car had just one other couple besides us. Five people would've been really cozy!
The tram takes four minutes to reach the observation deck at the top of the Arch and three minutes to get back down.
At the top!
The observation deck is approximately 65' long by 7' wide and can hold 160 visitors. Fortunately for us, there were significantly less people up there when we went. They were only operating one side of the tram (the South Gateway), and even then they didn't fill the cars.
A model of the observation deck was in the museum.
The observation deck has 32 windows (16 on each side), measuring 7" x 27" each.
And just what can you see from up there?
Everything!
Far and wide!
Hopefully, now you have a greater appreciation of this spectacular structure. I know I do!!
Can you see the 16 tiny windows of the observation deck? Follow my pink arrow.
It's incredible to think that we were up there!
We saw the St. Louis Cardinals play the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals fans are an enthusiastic bunch, and they were out in force. I didn't see a single Reds fan all evening, but I did hear one once. There was the sound of a single clapper behind us when the Reds got a run.
I think you can just make out the Gateway Arch in the dark, on the right, beyond the stadium.
The Cardinals are quite proud of all of their World Series wins, as they should be!
Chihuly was here!
This was one of my favorite areas of the garden. There were three ponds with lily pads in bloom. Those are walla walla onions, by Chihuly floating about in the pond. (The glass dome in the background is the Climatron -- more on that in a few.)
Just a cloud in the sky?
Well, yes . . . and no. It's the reflection of a cloud and sky in the pond. Now that you know, it does look a little more fluid, doesn't it?
These are Victoria Water Lilies, and we'd never seen anything like them before! They were very striking!
About 12-15 lily pads spider out from each center network (to the left of the little sign). Notice how wrinkly the pads are when they're smaller, and then they seem to smooth out and "grow into their skin" as they age.
Our tram driver said that the water is dyed black to increase the heat of it, and thereby prolong the season that the lilies can remain in the pond. In the colder months, the lilies are relocated to the greenhouse. I was trying to imagine how these massive pads could be carefully moved and stored, but Marty, with all of his wisdom, said he thought they cut off the pads and just relocate that centerpiece. That makes sense. (He's so smart!) New pads will presumably grow again next season. (You'll notice I have no botanical terms for any of this; I am not a botanist.)
And then we ventured inside the Climatron.
Chihuly has been here too.
And outside again now. We're not the only ones who enjoyed the Botanical Garden. This tiger swallowtail butterfly stayed still just long enough for Marty to snap a shot.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
The interior was really something to see! The detail was mind boggling. They say it is one of the largest mosaic collections in the world, containing 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces and covering 83,000 sq. ft. It took artisans, craftsmen, stonecutters, and masons nearly a century to create.
We helped Christopher Cross celebrate his 40th year of touring.
Yes, we knew about Eero Saarinen’s Arch - not because we’re smart but because there aren’t that many world-famous Finns. One tends to know all of them!
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