The City Museum in St. Louis - A Wonderland of Recycled Materials
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 04.30.07
As I was sliding head first down an old spiral grain shute, at considerable speed, screaming at the top of my lungs, a thought passed through my mind: surely this the most fun anyone can have in a museum! The City Museum in St. Louis has none of the hushed reverant atmosphere of a normal museum. What it does have is tons of children, teenagers, and adults alike, running around with complete abandonment, and making as much noise as possible, in what is essentially a three storey playground created mostly from reused and recyled materials. The experience for me was one of constant wonderment and surprise. That anything like this could be created, let alone be a legal public attraction in the US is amazing to me. I felt like Alice in Wonderland exploring a world Gaudí could only have dreamed of, and where each rabbit hole leads to another extraordinarily magical place.
One of the best things about the museum apart from all the climbing, crawling, squeezing, slipping and sliding, was the amazing range of materials used to construct all the different zones, most of which have been reused or recycled in one way or another. Often you don't notice what it is you are crawling over, or under, until your nose is a couple of centimeters away from it. Oh, they are bolts welded together; oh, those are old desks piled on top of each other; oh, look these are metal serving tins built into a wall, and these are....tree branches?
The City Museum is the brainchild of artist/sculptor Bob Cassilly. It opened in 1997 in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company in St. Louis. "Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions'. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, the CITY MUSEUM boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes! 'The CITY MUSEUM makes you want to know,' says Cassilly. 'The point is not to learn every fact, but to say, 'Wow, that's wonderful.' And if it's wonderful, it's worth preserving.'"
This is wonderful! Go and enjoy yourselves! :: The City Museum
Biofuels for Jet Planes - Branson Reveals (a little) More
|
India Considering Off-Grid Renewable Options for Rural Electrication
|
I'm so glad you made it to the City Museum, Leonora -- it's one of St. Louis' unique treasures!
My friends and I have made the 8 hour drive to St. Louis from where we live several times just to visit this place. There is to much to describe in words.. it is a must-experience thing.
The spiral slides are shoe shutes, not grain shutes. When we visited, the slides were (only) 4 floors tall. Now they are supposed to have opened up the full 10 story height! There are also straight trajectory slides rollers/ball bearing that are also a lot of fun.
The museum makes great use all the stuff that is discarded by industry and integrates countless archeticural artifacts from torn down St. Louis buildings as well.
Unique treasure, indeed!
My friends and family and I regularly have birthday parties at the City Museum, well into our 20's. I doubt it will stop being a tradition, even as we get older. It's an amazing place.
i don't live in mo but my other part of my family does so we went for my b-day last summer and i had a blast!!!! the city museum rules!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just visited STL for the weekend, and I fell in love with the City Museum! My boyfriend and I were just driving around the city looking for something to do, then we saw the bus hanging off the roof, so we had to investigate. I'm so glad we drove over there! Once we saw the MonstroCity outside, we had to go in.
We're also in our late 20's, but we ran around just like all the other kids. The whole museum is a work of art... it's tons of fun and eco friendly. I've been to museums all over the world... this was definitely the most exciting one I've been to.
i love the museum it is awsome i will always go the museum it fun and kidish i love being a kid