Fun With Parabolas

We went to a surprisingly captivating lecture on Midcentury Modern Architecture in St. Louis at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The Seagos got us tickets, and the place was so packed that people were sitting in the aisles.

I'll borrow this little description from the museum's website:

"Midcentury Modern Architecture in St. Louis: an Expanded View
Friday, November 13, 7:00 pm
The Farrell Auditorium. Free.
Mary Reid Brunstorm, doctoral candidate in art history, Washington University in St. Louis

This lecture will explore four decades of modern architecture in St. Louis, 1928-1968."

Boom.

A high point was a discussion on the rise and fall of the famous Pruitt–Igoe public housing projects. You could tell that it was an older audience because multiple times a now non-existent building would pop up on the screen and there'd be lots of oohs and ahhs of recognition.

I found the parts about the popularity of the parabola in modern architecture especially interesting. Here's a few in St. Louis that are at least parabola-ish.

James S. McDonnell Planetarium

Busch Memorial Stadium

Priory Chapel

The Gateway Arch looks like a parabola but is in fact apparently a catenary. If you hate yourself click that link to learn the difference.