The design was declared “an abstract form peculiarly happy in its symbolism” (Charles Nagel) Ground was broken on June 23rd, 1959, and construction of the arch itself started on February 12th, 1963. His initial design was chosen unanimously by the judges and would be Eero’s first independent project. The project was awarded to Eero Saarinen, who would later design the Washington Dulles Airport in Washington D.C and TWA Flight Center in New York, and who beat out his father, esteemed architect Eliel Saarinen, for the honor. Furthermore, railroad tracks crossing the intended site would have to be moved, a process requiring a further $5 million.īefore completion of this park, a competition for the design of the central monument, one“transcending in spiritual and aesthetic values”, was announced in 1944. Acquiring this land involved the demolishing of over eighty blocks of slums on the west bank of the Mississippi, an extremely unpopular decision as the displaced communities were not compensated for their losses. It was given to the National Park Service for management, and Roosevelt approved the memorial, allocating 82 acres and $6.75 million to the project. Also, as a part of the nationwide effort to create jobs and alleviate the effects of the Great Depression, the project was expected to create 5000 jobs over the course of 3 to 4 years. Civic leader Luther Ely Smith introduced the idea of a restoration effort of the west bank of the Mississippi, proposing a park be built there to act as a focal point of the community. The process leading to the construction of the Arch began in 1933. The center of the arch is able to sway up to 18 inches in either direction, and the structure is built to withstand winds of 150 miles per hour. This shape allows for forces on the foundation of the arch to pushing directly downwards rather than inwards, leading to increased stability and steeper legs. The arch’s shape is a weighted catenary arch, mimicking the inverted shape of a cable or chain hanging downwards while supported from both ends. Topping out at 630 feet, the arch is the tallest self-supported building in Missouri as well as the tallest monument in the Western Hemisphere. It has been, ever since it’s inception, the most visited place in Missouri, and is a nationally recognizable landmark. The arch attracts around four million visitors annually and has been visited by approximately 135 million people since it’s opening over fifty years. Louis, Missouri, and a uniquely American piece of architecture. The Gateway Arch in St.While originally a symbol of the westward expansion set forth by Jefferson and Lewis and Clark, the Gateway Arch now acts as both an icon of St. Louis and eastward across the Mississippi into flat, rather mundane southern Illinois. The ride takes about 2 or 3 minutes and you have some pretty cool views of downtown St. Louis was the last major city westward in the age of pioneering.įor $10 US, you get entrance to the museum at the base of the arch (the “museum of westward expansion”) which was actually pretty interesting, as well as a ticket to take one of the gondola style elevators up to the top. The monument was erected to pay homage to westward expansion across the United States in the last couple of centuries as St. It rises to an impressive 630 ft (192 m) and is the tallest man-made monument in the US (and obviously the tallest building in Missouri). The arch was designed by the Finnish-American architect Earo Saarinen in 1947, but construction didn’t begin until 1963 and lasted about 2.5 years. I had always seen pictures before, but it is much bigger than I thought it would be in person. The one real perk of our location was being just a stones throw away from the Gateway Arch, a truly impressive sight. The people live in the suburbs and just head to the city for work, leaving our dinner and drinking options pretty limited to whatever our hotel (the Hyatt) or the other ones around had to “offer”. Louis for the few days I was there, but for the most part, the downtown is a desolate wasteland as many mid-western American cities are. grateful as hell that I was headed back to Miami in a few days instead of just-as-shit Detroit as many of my comrades were destined to.Īll in all, I had a fun time in St. never want to live anywhere cold again in my life, and 2. I haven’t felt weather that miserable in years and it makes me 1. The walk was only 7 blocks to the convention center, but my god, I almost took a cab on multiple occasions with the 18 degree temperature (-7.7 C), unabated frigid winds and freezing rain. Louis auto show and our hotel was right smack in the middle of downtown, adjacent to the arch. Yea Greenville, South Carolina might be more off the beaten path, but Saint Louis ain’t somewhere many people are going to in the dead of winter, and I can understand why. Well my “job” once again has brought me to a random-ass American city.
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