grafitti walk st louis mo

eero saarinen's gateway arch (with a sliver of studio gang)

  

Was over in St. Louis, Missouri, last week to yap about water to the sustainble beef folks. Had a couple hours before making a mad dash to the airport, so I wandered downtown to gawk at street art, a wee bit artesian well history, and to see Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch. 

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect who, in addition to the Gateway Arch, designed the Brutalist Dulles Airport (who the nutz want to name after a certain orange hotel owner), the TWA Airport (been there but haven't posted!), and the John Deere Headquarters back near my hometown.

Considered Structural Expressionism, Saarinen submitted the design in the 1940s in response to a competition judged, in part, by Richard Neutra. The judges narrowed the 172 projects down to five including Eero's team. A team led by Eero's father, Eleil Saarinen submitted a design but was not selected as a finalist. Organizers mistakenly sent a telegram to Eleil to announce being chosen as a finalist, upon which Eleil opened a bottle of champagne in celebration. Two hours later, organizers communciated the mistake, upon which Eleil opened a second bottle of champagne to celebrate his son's selection. 

After the next phase of refining designs, the selection panel unanimously chose Eero's design. After a brief controversy that Eero had plagiarized Mussolini's arch and that the arch represented fascism, construction began in 1959 after a decade or so of site preparation. Sadly, Eero died in 1961, about four years before workers installed the "keystone" at the top.

It's rather gorgeous in its abstract simplicity and photogenic from a variety of angles and locations. The tram is right outta the 1960s and rotates as you ascent. As a party of one with a mid-week, mid-afternoon ticket, I rode solo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's Eero in the middle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Pet Milk Building by A.L. Aydelott in 1969.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Bonus building!

I spent the night (and spoke the next morning) at The Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza near the entry to Forest Park. Immediately noticed an interesting high rise across the street. Googled and... Studio Gang!