Mapparium

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The Mapparium is a three-story globe that can be viewed from the inside through a 9.1 meter long glass bridge. It's in the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston , Massachusetts .

The globe was built in 1935 and represents the political world map at that time.

Construction and data

The side walls of the globe consist of 608 colored glass plates on which the world map, based on a Rand McNally world map, is shown.

The shape of this sight resembles that of a sphere. You can visit the Mapparium from the inside through a 9.1 meter long glass bridge. Because you are standing on the bridge in the middle of the world map, every point on the map is the same distance from you, resulting in a unique 3D perspective and you can see the proportions of the individual continents as they really are.

Acoustics

If you are in the Mapparium and talk to the other visitors, you will probably be irritated by the good acoustics that result from the spherical shape. This is why many visitors whisper, because you can often hear what is being said from around the globe.

Light show

There is a presentation for the Mapparium that lasts approx. 7 to 8 minutes. The whole thing was expanded by the renovation from 1998 to 2001. Different lighting effects show on the world map which changes there are compared to then.

History and history of the building

Architect Chester Lindsay Churchill came up with the idea of ​​building the Mapparium in the early 1930s when he was inspired by a four-meter-tall globe in the lobby of the New York Daily News headquarters. He proposed his idea to the building committee of the Christian Science Publishing Society . Construction began in 1932. The Mapparium was completed in 1935 and opened on May 31st. The construction cost at the time was $ 35,000, an enormous sum at the time.

Churchill had actually tried to have the glass plates built in such a way that they can be replaced if the political world map changes. But in 1966 it was decided that the depicted world map would no longer be renewed, because the Mapparium was viewed as 'priceless work' (in German: priceless work).

From 1998 the Mapparium was renovated, a new light and sound system was installed and a screen was installed. It was completed in 2001. Since then, the glass plates have been thoroughly cleaned every five years.

Web links

Coordinates: 42 ° 20 ′ 42.4 "  N , 71 ° 5 ′ 10"  W.