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The Climatron is a greenhouse enclosed in a
David P.D. Munns, ''Engineering the Environment: Phytotrons and the Quest to Control Climate in the Cold War'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017).
The Climatron at World of Trons
{{coord, 38.6141, -90.2589, type:landmark_region:US-MO, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1960 Geodesic domes Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri Missouri Botanical Garden pt:Climatron
The Climatron is a greenhouse enclosed in a geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic do ...
that is part of the Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million ...
in St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. Initiated by then Garden director Frits W. Went, the dome is the world's first completely air-conditioned greenhouse and the first geodesic dome to be enclosed in rigid Plexiglass (Perspex) panels. Completed in 1960, it was designed by T. C. Howard, of Synergetics, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina. The broad climatic range within the dome, which recreates a lowland rain forest, is achieved by sophisticated climate controls without using interior partitions.
The structure is an unpartitioned half-sphere dome, 42 m in diameter and 21 m high. The frame is supported by aluminum tubes under compression
Compression may refer to:
Physical science
*Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces
*Compression member, a structural element such as a column
*Compressibility, susceptibility to compression
* Gas compression
*Compression ratio, of a ...
and aluminum rods under tension
Tension may refer to:
Science
* Psychological stress
* Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression)
* Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions
* Voltage or el ...
. The St. Louis architects Murphy and Mackey were the architects on record. Synergetics, Inc were the designers of the dome. The architects received the 1961 R. S. Reynolds Memorial Award of $25,000 for their architectural use of aluminum. In 1976 it was named one of the 100 most significant architectural achievements in United States history.
The dome contains a small stone pre-existing neo-classical pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
and over 400 varieties of plant life. A bank of 24 flood lights, revolving at night in five-minute cycles, simulates noon light on one side of the dome and moonlight on other side. The climate ranges from the Amazon through Hawaii and Java to India.
Over time, the building experienced deterioration of the original Plexiglas panels and the adverse effect of humidity on some metal elements. The greenhouse was closed for extensive renovations in 1988 and reopened in March 1990. The original Plexiglas glazing was replaced with 2,425 panes of heat-strengthened glass (containing a plastic interlayer called Saflex) and coated with a low-emissivity
Low emissivity (low ''e'' or low thermal emissivity) refers to a surface condition that emits low levels of radiant thermal (heat) energy. All materials absorb, reflect, and emit radiant energy according to Planck's law but here, the primary co ...
film. In 2010, the Botanical Garden celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Climatron.
See also
*Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
, patented the geometry for geodesic domes, lecturer, inventor, and author
* Jewel Box (St. Louis, Missouri), a previous greenhouse built in St. Louis in Forest Park
*Saint Louis Science Center
The Saint Louis Science Center, founded as a planetarium in 1963, is a collection of buildings including a science museum and planetarium in St. Louis, Missouri, on the southeastern corner of Forest Park. With over 750 exhibits in a complex of o ...
, a museum whose original 1963 planetarium building has a unique hyperboloid structure
* Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
* List of botanical gardens in the United States
*Phytotron
A phytotron is an enclosed research greenhouse used for studying interactions between plants and the environment. It was a product of the disciplines of plant physiology and botany.
Overview
Phytotrons unified and extended earlier piecemeal effo ...
References
External links
*David P.D. Munns, ''Engineering the Environment: Phytotrons and the Quest to Control Climate in the Cold War'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017).
The Climatron at World of Trons
{{coord, 38.6141, -90.2589, type:landmark_region:US-MO, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1960 Geodesic domes Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri Missouri Botanical Garden pt:Climatron