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Mena: Many architects around the world designed their building in the form of sexual organs to attract sexual energy and cosmic energy. Lets look at many buildings around the world design in the form of sexual organs.
30 ST MARY AXE ['THE GHERKIN'] | ST MARY AXE | CITY OF LONDON | LONDON | ENGLAND: *Built: 2001-2003; Official Opening: 28 April 2004; Architect: Sir Norman Foster; Height: 591ft (180m); 41-Storeys*
30 St Mary Axe, The Gherkin, City of London
30 St Mary Axe (informally known as the Gherkin and previously as the Swiss Re Building) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004.[10] With 41 stories, it is 180 metres (591 ft) tall[3] and stands on the former sites of the Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping, which were extensively damaged in 1992 by the explosion of a bomb placed by the Provisional IRA in St Mary Axe, the street from which the tower takes its name.[4][11]
After plans to build the 92-story Millennium Tower were dropped, 30 St Mary Axe was designed by Norman Foster and Arup Group.[12] It was erected by Skanska, with construction commencing in 2001.[3]
The building has become a recognisable feature of London, and it is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture.
The Torre Glòries,[4] formerly known as Torre Agbar (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈtorə əɡˈbar]), is a 38-story skyscraper/tower located between Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer Badajoz, near Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which marks the gateway to the new technological district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel in association with the Spanish firm b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos and built by Dragados. The Torre Glòries is located in the Poblenou neighbourhood of Barcelona and it was originally named after its owners, the Agbar Group, a holding company whose interests include the Barcelona water company Aigües de Barcelona.[5]
The tower measures a total of 50,693 m2 (545,650 sq ft), of which 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) are offices, 3,210 m2 (34,600 sq ft) technical facilities, 8,132 m2 (87,530 sq ft) services, including an auditorium, and 9,132 m2 (98,300 sq ft) parking space. It cost €130 million to build.
It opened in June 2005 and was officially opened by King Juan Carlos I on 16 September 2005. It is one in a collection of high-tech architecture examples in Barcelona.
The building was owned by the multinational group Agbar, which has its corporate headquarters in the building and which takes up most of the floors, leasing the remainder. The Agbar Tower was acquired in March 2010 for 165 million euros, after reaching an agreement with its former owner, the investment group Azurelau.[6] Azurelau had previously bought the property in mid-2007. The purchase price was not disclosed.
By 2017 it was purchased by Merlin Properties real estate group and it was renamed as Torre Glòries[7] after the name of the adjacent square.
TALLAHASSEE, FL- One of the most unique attributes of Florida’s state capitol building is its distinctly phallic shaping. But whether or not this was an intentional architectural decision, or an embarrassing mistake has until now been left to question.
Thankfully, we at the Eggplant have finally gotten the truth on this pressing issue. Said Governor Rick Scott in response to our speculation: “yep it’s totally a dick.”
Not only is Florida the state shaped most similarly to the male penis, it is definitely the biggest dick of all behavior-wise. Between almost legal murder, fatal bugs and reptiles, deadly hurricanes and the reason Bush was elected in 2000, Florida is literally seeping with testosterone. It almost seems like poetic justice that the Penis of America be represented just as it is. So next time you’re headed south on Apalachee Parkway,make sure to take a look up at the penis that is our state capitol and smile.
Buildings That Look Like Penises. The headquarters of the People's Daily newspaper in Beijing, China, gave people the shaft
So, China has a "penis building"... It's China's answer to the Gherkin... we can't help but notice that this building is strikingly familiar... image by CAT SARSFIELD OCT 14, 2013 image The new offices of the Chinese newspaper People's Daily have been quietly (ok not that quietly…) mocked for their phallic-like nature.
Even before it was finished being built, the tower had been the subject of viral Internet titter - especially considering that one of Beijing's other landmarks - the China Central Television HQ - is nicknamed The Big Underpants.
While under construction in May, the building had already taken on a remarkably familiar form, with rumours that the People's Daily headquarters would be finished with gold plates. Well, it certainly happened; gilded and ultimately penis-esque, it can't just be our brains that are looking at this building in a less-than family friendly way?
All right, so some of these look a little like a vagina. Some of these look a lot like them. The Spaceport in New Mexico really looks like one. But Qatar's World Cup Stadium? Well, it pretty much looks exactly like one. When plans for this building came out, they almost changed the design because they received so much ridicule. Again, though, isn't it about time? Why do so many buildings have to be huge examples of male appendages, sticking straight up in the sky? Why can't some buildings look like vaginas? Maybe, just maybe, in the future more can.
MODE GAKUEN COCOON TOWER This education building with the very obvious vertical smile is in Tokyo, Japan. There was a competition held to see who would get to design the building. The only rule that every architect was asked to follow was to not design a building that was rectangular. Not a problem for this architect, who just rolled in with a design that captured the essence of a vagina in every way. This building is 50 stories high and was erected in 2008. See what I did there?
SHERATON HUZHOU HOT SPRING RESORT This hotel in China goes by a few different nicknames. Some call it the horseshoe hotel, while others call it the doughnut hotel. It is easy to see why they chose those two appellations as calling it the vagina hotel probably would not have caught on. I really doubt a lot of families would go there for one thing. While this one does not look quite as much like lady parts as others on this list, it still makes the grade. This hotel is right on a lake and is 27 stories high.
This pudenda-like glass structure by Craig Hartman won a competition for the design of Oakland’s Cathedral of Christ the Light. The pious architect says its shape is meant to mimic that of either a Jesus fish or a Bishop’s mitre (those fancy teardrop-like hats they wear). Some people say the cathedral resembles “a beehive, an inverted basket or a nuclear reactor.” Others say it looks like a vagina.
After the new CCTV headquarters was built in China, online forums were abuzz with jokes about how it looked like a figure sitting on a toilet, and it was nicknamed “The Big Underpants Building.” But things took a racier turn when Rem Koolhaas had to fight rumors that he’d intentionally designed the building and its annex to look like a woman bent over, next to a penis. A critic named Xiao Mo wrote an essay called “The Structural Similarity of the CCTV Headquarters and Hindquarters,” and dug up some pornographic images from the book Content, in which women are posed explicitly next to pictures of Koolhass’s building. Koolhass claims the CCTV building “has no hidden meaning.”
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Absolute Condos 'Marilyn Monroe Towers' (Mississauga, Ontario) Absolute World is a residential condominium twin tower skyscraper complex in the five tower Absolute City Centre development in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.[8] The project was built by Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group. With the first three towers completed (Absolute City Centre 1 and 2 and Absolute Vision), the last two towers (Absolute World 4 and 5) were topped off at 50 and 56 storeys.
The Ypsilanti Water Tower is a historic water tower in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States.
The tower was designed by William R. Coats and built as part of an elaborate city waterworks project that began in 1889. Located on the highest point in Ypsilanti, the tower was built in 1890 at a cost of $21,435.63. Today the tower is frequently joked about for its phallic shape. It has become a well-known landmark in Ypsilanti, and due to the building's shape and location, the tower is frequently used by residents as a point for providing directions for visitors and residents.
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The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur (French: Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, pronounced [sakʁe kœʁ]), is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark and the second most visited monument in Paris,[1] the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Sacré-Cœur is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the defeat of France in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and the socialist Paris Commune of 1871[2] crowning its most rebellious neighborhood, and an embodiment of conservative moral order, publicly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was an increasingly popular vision of a loving and sympathetic Christ.[3]
The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914. The basilica was consecrated after the end of World War I in 1919.
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame Cathedral entrance
Notre-Dame de Paris (French: [nɔtʁə dam də paʁi] (About this sound listen); meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.[3] The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. The innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress, the enormous and colorful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration all set it apart from earlier Romanesque architecture.[4]
The cathedral was begun in 1160 and largely completed by 1260, though it was modified frequently in the following centuries. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. Soon after the publication of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831, popular interest in the building revived. A major restoration project supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845 and continued for twenty-five years. Beginning in 1963, the facade of the Cathedral was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime, returning it to its original color. Another campaign of cleaning and restoration was carried out from 1991-2000.[5]
As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris, currently Michel Aupetit.
Washington Monument in front of a pool of water The Washington Monument surrounded by a circle of USA flags.
The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Located almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial,[2] the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss,[3] is both the world's tallest predominately stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk,[A] standing 554 feet 7 11⁄32 inches (169.046 m) tall according to the National Geodetic Survey (measured 2013–14) or 555 feet 5 1⁄8 inches (169.294 m) tall according to the National Park Service (measured 1884).[B] It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances.[A] It was the tallest structure in the world from 1884 to 1889.
Construction of the monument began in 1848, and was halted from 1854 to 1877 due to a lack of funds, a struggle for control over the Washington National Monument Society, and the intervention of the American Civil War. Although the stone structure was completed in 1884, internal ironwork, the knoll, and other finishing touches were not completed until 1888. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet (46 m) or 27% up, shows where construction was halted and later resumed with marble from a different source. The original design was by Robert Mills, but he did not include his proposed colonnade due to a lack of funds, proceeding only with a bare obelisk. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the first stone was laid atop the unfinished stump on August 7, 1880; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884; the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885;[14] and officially opened October 9, 1888.
The Washington Monument is a hollow Egyptian style stone obelisk with a 500-foot (152.4 m) tall column and a 55-foot (16.8 m) tall pyramidion. Its walls are 15 feet (4.6 m) thick at its base and 1 1⁄2 feet (0.46 m) thick at their top. The marble pyramidion has thin walls only 7 inches (18 cm) thick supported by six arches, two between opposite walls that cross at the center of the pyramidion and four smaller corner arches. The top of the pyramidion is a large marble capstone with a small aluminum pyramid at its apex with inscriptions on all four sides. The lowest 150 feet (45.7 m) of the walls, constructed during the first phase 1848–1854, are composed of a pile of bluestone gneiss rubble stones (not finished stones) held together by a large amount of mortar with a facade of semi-finished marble stones about 1 1⁄4 feet (0.4 m) thick. The upper 350 feet (106.7 m) of the walls, constructed during the second phase 1880–1884, are composed of finished marble surface stones, half of which project into the walls, partially backed by finished granite stones.[15]
The interior is occupied by iron stairs that spiral up the walls, with an elevator in the center, each supported by four iron columns, which do not support the stone structure. The stairs contain fifty sections, most on the north and south walls, with many long landings stretching between them along the east and west walls. These landings allowed many inscribed memorial stones of various materials and sizes to be easily viewed while the stairs were accessible (until 1976), plus one memorial stone between stairs that is difficult to view. The pyramidion has eight observation windows, two per side, and eight red aircraft warning lights, two per side. Two aluminum lightning rods connected via the elevator support columns to ground water protect the monument. The monument's present foundation is 37 feet (11.3 m) thick, consisting of half of its original bluestone gneiss rubble encased in concrete. At the northeast corner of the foundation, 21 feet (6.4 m) below ground, is the marble cornerstone, including a zinc case filled with memorabilia.[15] Fifty American flags fly 24 hours a day on a large circle of flag poles centered on the monument.[16] In 2001, a temporary screening facility was added to the entrance to prevent a terrorist attack.[17] In 2011, an earthquake slightly damaged the monument, mostly the pyramidion.[18]
The White House Oval Office
The White House Oval Office The Oval Office is the working office space of the President of the United States located in the West Wing of the White House, Washington, D.C..
The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end. It has four doors: the east door opens to the Rose Garden; the west door leads to a private study and dining room; the northwest door opens onto the main corridor of the West Wing; and the northeast door opens to the office of the president's secretary.
Presidents generally decorate the office to suit their personal taste, choosing new furniture, new drapery, and designing their own oval-shaped carpet to take up most of the floor. Artwork is selected from the White House's own collection, or borrowed from museums for the president's term in office.
Doha Tower, also known as Burj Doha (Arabic: برج دوحة) and previously named as Burj Qatar and Doha High Rise Office Building,[4] is an iconic high rise tower located in West Bay, Doha, Qatar. On October 18, 2012, the building received the CTBUH Skyscraper Award for the Best Tall Building Worldwide from the CTBUH.[5] The $125-million office building, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, has a height of 232 metres (761 ft), with 46 stories.
In 2004 the project was first named as High Rise Office Building[6] and after completion of construction in 2012 was branded as Burj Doha by the owner, H. E. Sheikh Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani. The public has noted the building's "phallic form",[7][8] suggestive of what Nouvel calls a “fully assumed virility.”[9]
Doha Tower comprises 46 floors above ground, 3 floors below ground and a total gross floor area of approximately 110,000 m².[10] It has no central core, leaving more internal space available to its occupants. The design is unique, the first skyscraper with internal reinforced concrete dia-grid columns, which form a cross (X) shape that connects with the eye-catching cylindrical facade. The design expresses the local culture, connecting the very modern with ancient Islamic designs (Mashrabiya). Islamic screens were designed to shade the building from high temperatures as well as the unpleasant sand residue found on glass throughout the region. The building is designed to hold offices for businesses wishing to operate in the diverse business district of West Bay.
Doha Tower is owned by Sheikh Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani and managed by Hamad Bin Saoud Group.
400 West Market is a skyscraper in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The 35-story, 549-foot (167 m) high structure was designed by architect John Burgee with Philip Johnson and was completed in 1993 at the cost of US$100 million. The building, originally named Capital Holding Center, was later renamed Providian Center and AEGON Center as the business was renamed and sold. AEGON left the building in 2010, and the building was renamed 400 West Market in 2014.[4]
Currently the tallest building in the state of Kentucky, the building is constructed of reinforced concrete, as opposed to the steel construction usual for buildings of its height. A distinctive feature of the building is the 80-foot (24 m) high Romanesque dome which reflects the building's original name of Capital Holding that is illuminated from the interior at night.[1] The upper floors of the building are also illuminated at night. 400 West Market's lighting is changed from the usual white to a combination of red and green from Thanksgiving Day until New Year's Day.[1]
The skyscraper has 633,650 square feet (58,868 m²) of leaseable space for office and 18,787 square feet (1,745 m²) for retail.[5]
The original owner of 400 West Market was a limited partnership which consisted of Hines Interest, as a general partner, and Japanese limited partners. In April, 2004, David Werner's investment group purchased the building.[6]
There is a statue in the plaza of 400 West Market of Alysheba, winner of the 1987 Kentucky Derby and a 1993 U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee.
Florida Polytechnic University looks like a vagina
Florida Polytechnic University innovation science and technology building.
Beijing National Stadium, officially the National Stadium[3] (Chinese: 国家体育场; pinyin: Guójiā Tǐyùchǎng; literally: "State Stadium"), also known as the Bird's Nest (鸟巢; Niǎocháo), is a stadium in Beijing. The stadium (BNS) was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, artist Ai Weiwei, and CADG which was led by chief architect Li Xinggang.[4] The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics and will be used again in the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The Bird's Nest sometimes has some extra temporary large screens installed at the stands of the stadium.
The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. State of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln. It was designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920 and was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 1932. The capitol houses the primary executive and judicial offices of Nebraska and is home to the Nebraska Legislature—the only state unicameral legislature in the United States.
The Nebraska State Capitol is often known as the "Tower on the Plains," and its 400-foot (120 m) tower can be seen as far away as 20 miles. It was the first state capitol to incorporate a functional tower into its design. In 1976, the National Park Service designated the capitol a National Historic Landmark, and in 1997, the Park Service extended the designation to include the capitol grounds, which Ernst H. Herminghaus designed in 1932.
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Billionaire Jeff Bezos Phallic Blue Origin Rocket
Jeff Bezos Blue Origin Rocket
Blue Origin, LLC is an American privately funded aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the company is developing technologies to enable private human access to space with the goal to dramatically lower costs and increase reliability. Blue Origin is employing an incremental approach from suborbital to orbital flight, with each developmental step building on its prior work. The company motto is Gradatim Ferociter, Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously".[2]
Blue Origin is developing a variety of technologies, with a focus on rocket-powered vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) vehicles for access to suborbital and orbital space.[3] The company's name refers to the blue planet, Earth, as the point of origin.[2]
Initially focused on suborbital spaceflight, the company has designed, built and flown multiple testbeds of its New Shepard spacecraft at its facility in Culberson County, Texas. Developmental test flight of the New Shepard,[4] named after the first American in space Alan Shepard, began in April 2015, and flight testing is continuing into 2018, with first passenger-carrying spaceflight expected in late 2018.[5] On nearly every one of the test flights since 2015, the uncrewed vehicle has flown to a planned test altitude of more than 100 km (330,000 ft) and achieved a top speed of more than Mach 3 (3,675 km/h; 2,284 mph), reaching space above the Kármán line, with both the space capsule and its rocket booster successfully soft landing, making reuse possible.[6] By 2016, the second New Shepard booster test article had made four flights, each time exceeding 100 km (330,000 ft) in altitude, before returning for successful soft landings.[7][8] The first crewed test flights are planned to take place in 2018,[9] with the start of commercial service in 2019.[10]
Blue Origin has become a part of a "dramatic metamorphosis" of the space industry in recent years,[11] having moved into the orbital spaceflight technology business in 2014, initially as a rocket engine supplier for others via a contractual agreement to build a new large rocket engine, the BE-4, for major US launch system operator United Launch Alliance (ULA). ULA is also considering the BE-3, Blue Origin's smaller rocket engine used on New Shepard, for use in a new second stage—the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES)—which will become the primary upper stage for ULA's Vulcan orbital launch vehicle in the 2020s.[12] By 2015, Blue Origin had announced plans to also manufacture and fly its own orbital launch vehicle from the Florida Space Coast, known as the New Glenn. BE-4 is expected to complete engine qualification testing by late 2018.[5]
Billionaire Elon Musk Spacex Phallic Rocket
Billionaire Elon Musk Spacex
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars.[9][10][11] SpaceX has since developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family, which both currently deliver payloads into Earth orbit.
SpaceX's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 in 2008),[12] the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon in 2010), the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon in 2012),[13] the first propulsive landing for an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2015), the first reuse of an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2017), and the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the sun (Falcon Heavy's payload of a Tesla Roadster in 2018). SpaceX has flown 14 resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) under a partnership with NASA.[14] NASA also awarded SpaceX a further development contract in 2011 to develop and demonstrate a human-rated Dragon, which would be used to transport astronauts to the ISS and return them safely to Earth.[15]
SpaceX announced in 2011 that it was beginning a funded reusable launch system technology development program. In December 2015, the first Falcon 9 was flown back to a landing pad near the launch site, where it successfully accomplished a propulsive vertical landing. This was the first such achievement by a rocket for orbital spaceflight.[16] In April 2016, with the launch of CRS-8, SpaceX successfully vertically landed a first stage on an ocean drone ship landing platform.[17] In May 2016, in another first, SpaceX again landed a first stage, but during a significantly more energetic geostationary transfer orbit mission.[18] In March 2017, SpaceX became the first to successfully re-launch and land the first stage of an orbital rocket.[19]
In September 2016, CEO Elon Musk unveiled the mission architecture of the Interplanetary Transport System program, an ambitious privately funded initiative to develop spaceflight technology for use in crewed interplanetary spaceflight. In 2017, Musk unveiled an updated configuration of the system, now named the BFR, which will be the largest rocket in history and will be fully reusable when it debuts in the early 2020s.[20] BFR is the acronym for Big Falcon Rocket.[21] SpaceX revealed on Twitter that the world’s first private passenger, who was later revealed to be Yusaku Maezawa, has been signed to fly across the moon in the BFR rocket.[22] [23] SpaceX also plans to launch its first crewed spacecraft, Dragon 2, in April 2019.[24]
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Griffith Park Observatory, Los Angeles, California.
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles California
Griffith Observatory Los Angeles by Dylan Schwartz by CaliforniaFeelings.com california cali LA CA SF SanDiego
Water and Power Associates. (ca. 1935)* - Three men gaze at the Foucault pendulum in the foyer of the Griffith Observatory. The pendulum demonstrates the rotation of the earth.
The Griffith Observatory is a facility in Los Angeles, California, sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction with an excellent view of the Hollywood Sign and an extensive array of space and science-related displays. Admission has been free since the observatory's opening in 1935, in accordance with the will of Griffith J. Griffith, the benefactor after whom the observatory is named.
3,015 acres (12.20 km2) of land surrounding the observatory was donated to the City of Los Angeles by Griffith J. Griffith on December 16, 1896.[1] In his will Griffith donated funds to build an observatory, exhibit hall, and planetarium on the donated land. Griffith's objective was to make astronomy accessible by the public, as opposed to the prevailing idea that observatories should be located on remote mountaintops and restricted to scientists.[2]
Griffith drafted detailed specifications for the observatory. In drafting the plans, he consulted with Walter Adams, the future director of Mount Wilson Observatory, and George Ellery Hale, who founded (with Andrew Carnegie) the first astrophysical telescope in Los Angeles.[2]
As a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project,[3] construction began on June 20, 1933, using a design developed by architect John C. Austin based on preliminary sketches by Russell W. Porter.[1] The observatory and accompanying exhibits were opened to the public on May 14, 1935 as the country's third planetarium.[4] In its first five days of operation the observatory logged more than 13,000 visitors. Dinsmore Alter was the museum's director during its first years.
The building combines Greek and Beaux-Arts influences, and the exterior is embellished with the Greek key pattern. [5]
During World War II the planetarium was used to train pilots in celestial navigation. The planetarium was again used for this purpose in the 1960s to train Apollo program astronauts for the first lunar missions.
The observatory closed in 2002 for renovation and a major expansion of exhibit space. It reopened to the public on November 3, 2006, retaining its art deco exterior. The $93 million renovation, paid largely by a public bond issue, restored the building, as well as replaced the aging planetarium dome. The building was expanded underground, with completely new exhibits,[6] a café, gift shop, and the new Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater.[7]
A wildfire in the hills came dangerously close to the observatory on May 10, 2007.[8]
On October 15, 2017, brush fires approached the Observatory Trail, but were extinguished before causing any structural damage. [9]
On July 10 2018 the Griffith Park Observatory was evacuated after a brush fire burned 25 acres and damaged cars but was extinguished before it damaged any buildings.
On May 25, 2008, the Observatory offered visitors live coverage of the Phoenix landing on Mars.[10]
Dr. Ed Krupp is the current director of the Observatory.
The first exhibit visitors encountered in 1935 was the Foucault pendulum, which was designed to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.[11] The exhibits also included a 12-inch (305mm) Zeiss refracting telescope in the east dome, a triple-beam coelostat (solar telescope) in the west dome, and a thirty-eight foot relief model of the moon's north polar region.
Col. Griffith requested that the observatory include a display on evolution which was accomplished with the Cosmochron exhibit which included a narration from Caltech Professor Chester Stock and an accompanying slide show. The evolution exhibit existed from 1937 to the mid-1960s.
Also included in the original design was a planetarium under the large central dome. The first shows covered topics including the Moon, worlds of the solar system, and eclipses.
The planetarium theater was renovated in 1964 and a Mark IV Zeiss projector was installed.
The Café at the End of the Universe, an homage to Restaurant at the End of the Universe, is one of the many cafés run by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. One wall inside the building is covered with the largest astronomically accurate image ever constructed (152 feet long by 20 feet (6.1 m) high), called "The Big Picture",[12] depicting the Virgo Cluster of galaxies; visitors can explore the highly detailed image from within arm's reach or through telescopes 60 feet (18 m) away.[6] The 1964-vintage Zeiss Mark IV star projector was replaced with a Zeiss Mark IX Universarium.[13] The former planetarium projector is part of the underground exhibit on ways in which humanity has visualized the skies.
Centered in the Universe features a high-resolution immersive video projected by an innovative laser system developed by Evans and Sutherland Corporation, along with a short night sky simulation projected by the Zeiss Universarium. A team of animators worked more than two years to create the 30-minute program. Actors, holding a glowing orb, perform the presentation, under the direction of Chris Shelton. Tickets for the show are purchased separately at the box office within the observatory. Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Children under 5 are free, but are admitted to only the first planetarium show of the day. Only members of the observatory's support group, Friends Of The Observatory,[14] may reserve tickets for the planetarium show.
The observatory is split up into six sections: The Wilder Hall of the Eye, the Ahmanson Hall of the Sky, the W.M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda, the Cosmic Connection, the Gunther Depths of Space Hall, and the Edge of Space Mezzanine.
The Wilder Hall of the Eye, located in the east wing of the main level focuses on astronomical tools like telescopes and how they evolved over time so people can see further into space. Interactive features there include a Tesla coil and a "Camera Obscura", which uses mirrors and lenses to focus light onto a flat surface.
The rotunda ceiling The Ahmanson Hall of the Sky, located in the west wing, focuses on objects that are normally found in the sky, like the Sun and Moon. The main centerpiece of this section is a large solar telescope projecting images of the Sun, using a series of mirrors called coelostats. Exhibits here include a periodic table of the elements, a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and several alcoves showing exhibits about topics like day and night, the paths of the Sun and stars, the seasons, the phases of the Moon, tides, and eclipses. The W.M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda features several Hugo Ballin murals on the ceiling and upper walls restored since 1934, a Foucault pendulum that demonstrates the Earth's rotation, and a small exhibit dedicated to Griffith J. Griffith, after whom the observatory is named.
Director Ed Krupp Explains the Cosmic Connection Exhibit MENU0:00 recorded in 2017 Problems playing this file? See media help. The Cosmic Connection is a 150 ft long hallway connecting the main building and the underground exhibition areas (see below) that depicts the history of the universe, and dramatizes the amount of time that has passed from the Big Bang to the present day using, hundreds of individual pieces of astronomy-related jewelry.
The Gunther Depths of Space Hall is the lower level of the observatory, dominated by "The Big Picture," and scale models of the Solar System. The planets (including dwarf planet Pluto) are shown relative to the size of the sun, which is represented by the diameter of the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater. Below each planet are listed facts, as well as scales indicating a person's weight on planets having a solid surface (or weight at an altitude where atmospheric pressure would equal one bar otherwise). In addition, beneath the Earth's model, there is a small room containing a large model Earth globe, an older Zeiss planetarium projector, and a set of seismograph rolls, including one tracking room motion caused by occupants. The other rolls are attached to seismographs monitoring movement at the bedrock level, and indicate actual seismic activity. On the north wall of the Depths of Space is "The Big Picture", a 150 feet (46 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m) photograph (the largest astronomical image in the world) showing a portion of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. This image was taken over the course of 11 nights by the 48-inch Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Mountain. There is also a bronze statue of Albert Einstein sitting on a bench in the Depths of Space. Einstein is holding his index finger about 1 foot (0.30 m) in front of his eyes, to illustrate the visual area of space that is captured in The Big Picture.
The Edge of Space Mezzanine, which overlooks the Depths of Space Hall, focuses more on astronomy related topics that involve celestial bodies much closer to Earth, with exhibits including meteorite displays, an asteroid impact simulator, a cloud and spark chamber, and a large globe of the Moon, and with telescopes that allow a closer inspection of The Big Picture.
Tesla coil
Tesla coil at the Observatory On display at the Observatory is a large Tesla coil, dubbed "GPO-1", one of a pair which were built in 1910 by Earle Ovington.[15][16] Ovington, who would go on to fame as an aviator, ran a company which built high voltage generators for medical X-ray and electrotherapy devices. In public demonstrations of his generators, the spectacular displays drew crowds. Ovington designed the Observatory's coil to surpass a coil made by Elihu Thomson in 1893 which generated a 64-inch spark. (Nikola Tesla had secretly produced much larger sparks in 1899.) The project caught the attention of an Edison Electric Illuminating Company official, who offered $1,000 if the coil were displayed at an upcoming electrical show in Madison Square Garden, with the stipulation that the machine would produce sparks not less than ten feet long.
The machine, dubbed the Million Volt Oscillator was installed in the band balcony overlooking the arena. At the top of each hour the lights in the main hall were shut off, and sparks would shoot from the copper ball atop the coil to a matching coil 122 inches away, or to a wand held by an assistant. The chief engineer of the General Electric Company estimated that the discharges were at least 1,300,000 volts.
Ovington, who died in 1936, gave the matching Tesla coils to his old electrotherapy colleague Frederick Finch Strong, who in 1937 donated them to Griffith Observatory. The Observatory had room to exhibit only one of the pair. By this time the machine was missing parts, so Observatory staffer Leon Hall restored it with the notable assistance of Hollywood special effects expert Kenneth Strickfaden who designed the special effects for Frankenstein (1931) among many other movies.
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