Gorge | Colorful canyons Enclose yellow taxi runways Leading to the Arch |
A
t 630 feet high, the St. Louis Gateway Arch is the tallest memorial in the US. It is viewable from many vantage points in downtown St. Louis. It has a naturally gracefully shape, with a sweeping tapered bow of stainless steel based on a catenary curve. Catenary is defined as the curve a hanging flexible chain assumes when supported at its ends and responding to uniform gravitational forces. The catenary curve equation is: y = k cosh(x/k) , where cosh is the hyperbolic cosine [cosh(x) = (ex + e-x)/2] and k is the y-intercept (where the curve hits the y-axis).
Visually incorporating the Arch compositionally with the more conventional city architecture was an enjoyable exercise.
“All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” - John Berger
