The Gateway Arch

I’ve been in St. Louis now for 3 months, so it’s time to share a couple of photos of the Gateway Arch (whose full name is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Gateway Arch).

The Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen, built in 1947, and stands 630 feet tall. Standing under the arch you get a sense of how amazing it really is. And riding the elevator up the arch is even more amazing as you sit in the specially designed elevator cars that rotate as they travel up the arch. The rotation is needed to keep you upright as the cars travel along the curvature of the arch.

The observation room at the top of the arch is only seven feet wide, but 65 feet long. Rows of windows on either side provide a clear and long distance view both east and west of the Mississippi.

I was there on a bright, sunny day late in the afternoon. The arch looms over a pond that was perfectly still on this particular day.

The Gateway Arch

While the arch lends itself to a portrait (vertical) layout, the natural surroundings provide enough visual framing to allow for a landscape (horizontal) layout.

On a warm summer day, the park is crawling with tourists as they descend below the arch to visit the museum and board the elevators to the observation room.