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Huntsville, Alabama
Everything's gonna get lighter, even if it never gets better
Truth be told, it is highly, highly unlikely that you will ever actually go to Huntsville, Alabama. It's not on the way to anywhere- even if you're driving through Alabama all the major interstates manage to knowingly swerve around to miss it. Still if you happen to find yourself in Huntsville as I did (on a work related trip) you'll find at least one worthy attraction. The United States Space and Rocket Center (and Space Camp) has the kind of collection that the Smithsonian would kill for. Its backyard is littered with rockets and its galleries have everything from an actual, fresh from outer space Apollo 16 capsule (with its deployed parachute) to every imaginable interpretive exhibit from a time when space travel (and the future) was still seen through optimistic eyes. Of special interest to me (and pictured below) was an actual Nazi V2 rocket. If you've ever read Thomas Pynchon's classic and (often) profane novel "Gravity's Rainbow" then you'll already know all about the V2 rocket. And while the exhibit did not mention exactly what happened to the Schwarz-Gerat, Rocket 00000 or the doomed Gottfried, it was certainly revelatory to see one in person.
While there are plenty of rockets to see, the most impressive piece of equipment outside at Huntsville is the Pathfinder, a full size Space Shuttle that's out back between the cafeteria and the parking lot. Unlike the rest of the dwindling Space Shuttle fleet, the Pathfinder was never meant for space travel but instead used for simulations, testing and (now) posing for pictures.
The slideshow now visits the capitol building in Austin, Texas, complete with its big white dome and Texas lone stars all over the place. The dome is higher than the one at the US capitol building in Washington, however unlike Washington's dome the building is far more accessible. Just walk right in without a security or bag check and feel free to wander wherever you want. The first three stories and both chambers of the state legislature were filled with wandering visitors, something you just don't see anymore in many of the country's more terrorist prone (and more local) government buildings. Hell back home I can't even go to the Whitney or to a hockey game without my backpack being rustled through.
The capitol building sits on top of a hill at the foot of Congress Street in Austin, a city that is seemingly a great place to live but not necessarily a great place to visit. Other than a strong music scene and a reasonable amount of fun on 6th Street, there's not all that much to make you wish that you skipped San Antonio and spent a whole weekend in Austin instead.
Here are some picture from East Rutherford, New Jersey where I attended a construction tour of Xanadu at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in Bergen County (New Jersey). Xanadu is a huge, generally hated behemoth of a project, a shopping mall in a state and county full of shopping malls, although at least it is going all out to try and distinguish itself with things like a totally unnecessary 320 foot high ferris wheel (footing under construction, should be installed in March), an indoor ski slope (mostly finished) and an exterior color scheme that can either be described as horrible or really, really horrible (if you've been anywhere near the Meadowlands in the past year and a half you know exactly what I mean).
The construction tour was offered by the Architects League (my local AIA Chapter that I'm way too involved in) and led by Turner Construction, the firm responsible for the core and shell of the Xanadu complex but not any of the interior or site work (the project is still a year away from being finished by the way). After a presentation all about Xanadu peppered with fun facts (like how multiple welders were injured because of the strong, radio signal of the adjacent 1050AM ESPN Radio towers), but the real fun started when the tour left the construction trailers and headed inside.
The five star attraction at Xanadu isn’t all that retail but the indoor ski slope, which doesn’t have any snow yet but certainly has some slope already ready to go. The tour walked up (and then down) it, and it seemed more substantial in person than I expected.
Another AIA New Jersey event, this one is at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a religious camp that has one hell of a great big wooden meeting hall. Inside at AIA New Jersey Design Day, there were presentations by Hugh Newell Jacobsen (old guy, good speaker, solid work) and Rafael Pelli, also known (by people not paying attention) as Cesar Pelli Jr.
Ocean Grove is a religious town with a boardwalk that is immediately south of Asbury Park, a decidedly non religious town with a boardwalk. These two towns have lived side by side for generations, with each likely distrustful of the other, even though a common boardwalk and beach run right through both.
