Mapparium
Encyclopedia
The Mapparium is a three-story tall glass
globe
of stained glass
that is viewed from a 30 feet (9.1 m) bridge through its interior. It is a unique exhibit at the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts.
Located with a few other exhibits in The Mary Baker Eddy Library
for the Betterment of Humanity, a non-religious public museum
and library
, the globe is illuminated from the exterior so that the details of its construction can be easily seen.
Built in 1935 and based upon Rand McNally
political maps published the previous year, the Mapparium shows the political world as it was at that time, including such long-disused labels as Italian East Africa
and Siam, as well as more-recently defunct political entities such as the Soviet Union
. In 1939, 1958, and 1966 the Church considered updating the map, but rejected it on the basis of cost and the special interest it holds as an historical artifact
.
officials wanted a suitably impressive addition to the new Christian Science Publishing Company headquarters.
Inspired by the famous spinning globe in the lobby of the New York Daily News
building, they commissioned architect Chester Lindsay Churchill to design the Mapparium. Like its New York inspiration, the Mapparium features a panel of weather instruments.
The 608 stained glass panels were produced by the Rambusch Company
of New York
and the Mapparium was opened to the public on June 1, 1935.
The Mapparium was closed in 1998 for a four-year cleaning and renovation. It reopened in 2002 and now features a sound-and-light-show that illustrates how the world has changed since 1935. Computer-controlled lighting by the Color Kinetics company provides effects and highlights regions as the narration discusses them. The stained glass restoration was performed by the Boston-area firm Serpentino Stained Glass.
In 2004, the name Mapparium was registered as a U.S.
trademark
(#2861312) by the Board of Directors
of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, for "Educational services, namely, providing an educational exhibition of the earth. First use: 19350531. First use in commerce: 19350531."
Hence the specially accurate effect gained by viewing the Mapparium—a mirror-image, concave reversal of the Earth—from within. This is the only configuration that places the eye at the same distance from every point on the map.
Andrew Sinclair's comments show the success of this ideahttp://www.andrewsinclair.org/archive/best_map_inof_the_world.htm
The Mapparium invites comparison with another conspicuous piece of large-scale Boston-area
cartography
, the 28 feet (8.5 m) "Babson Globe", located outdoors at Babson College
in Wellesley, MA. This huge globe was, at one time, capable of revolving on its base and spinning on its axis.
so that visitors standing at corresponding locations near opposite ends the bridge can speak to each other and be heard as if they were standing next to each other. One visitor writes:
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
that is viewed from a 30 feet (9.1 m) bridge through its interior. It is a unique exhibit at the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts.
Located with a few other exhibits in The Mary Baker Eddy Library
Mary Baker Eddy Library
The Mary Baker Eddy Library is a lending library and museum as well as the repository for the papers of Mary Baker Eddy, an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader who founded Christian Science...
for the Betterment of Humanity, a non-religious public museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, the globe is illuminated from the exterior so that the details of its construction can be easily seen.
Built in 1935 and based upon Rand McNally
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American publisher of maps, atlases, textbooks, and globes for travel, reference, commercial, and educational uses. It also provides online consumer street maps and directions, as well as commercial transportation routing software and mileage data...
political maps published the previous year, the Mapparium shows the political world as it was at that time, including such long-disused labels as Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
and Siam, as well as more-recently defunct political entities such as the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In 1939, 1958, and 1966 the Church considered updating the map, but rejected it on the basis of cost and the special interest it holds as an historical artifact
Cultural artifact
A cultural artifact is a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology, and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users...
.
Design and construction
In the 1930s the Christian Science Monitor was a successful newspaper and Christian Science ChurchChurch of Christ, Scientist
The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy. She was the author of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Christian Science teaches that the "allness" of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death, and the material world...
officials wanted a suitably impressive addition to the new Christian Science Publishing Company headquarters.
Inspired by the famous spinning globe in the lobby of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
building, they commissioned architect Chester Lindsay Churchill to design the Mapparium. Like its New York inspiration, the Mapparium features a panel of weather instruments.
The 608 stained glass panels were produced by the Rambusch Company
Rambusch Decorating Company
The Rambusch Decorating Company was founded in 1898 in New York, New York by Frode Rambusch, a Danish immigrant.In the 1920's, it was the decorator for many elaborate movie palaces, including the famed Roxy Theatre in New York City, which seated 6,214 and opened in March, 1927. That project was...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and the Mapparium was opened to the public on June 1, 1935.
The Mapparium was closed in 1998 for a four-year cleaning and renovation. It reopened in 2002 and now features a sound-and-light-show that illustrates how the world has changed since 1935. Computer-controlled lighting by the Color Kinetics company provides effects and highlights regions as the narration discusses them. The stained glass restoration was performed by the Boston-area firm Serpentino Stained Glass.
In 2004, the name Mapparium was registered as a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
(#2861312) by the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, for "Educational services, namely, providing an educational exhibition of the earth. First use: 19350531. First use in commerce: 19350531."
The view from within
The Mapparium was designed to allow the countries of the world to be viewed in accurate geographical relationship to each other. It is usually assumed that a globe solves this problem; but since it is viewed from the outside, different parts of the globe are at different distances from the eye and are thus distorted by perspective.Hence the specially accurate effect gained by viewing the Mapparium—a mirror-image, concave reversal of the Earth—from within. This is the only configuration that places the eye at the same distance from every point on the map.
Andrew Sinclair's comments show the success of this ideahttp://www.andrewsinclair.org/archive/best_map_inof_the_world.htm
- The Mapparium is so large, and you can see so much of it at once (because it’s concave instead of convex), that you can really get an idea of relative sizes and distances. For example, you can see why a plane from London to San Francisco flies over Washington and Oregon. You also notice just how far north the United States, Europe, and Asia are. Standing at the equator, you really have to strain your neck to see them.
The Mapparium invites comparison with another conspicuous piece of large-scale Boston-area
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, the 28 feet (8.5 m) "Babson Globe", located outdoors at Babson College
Babson College
Babson College is a private business school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts near Boston.- History :Babson College was founded by Roger Babson on September 3, 1919, as the Babson Institute. It was renamed "Babson College" in 1969...
in Wellesley, MA. This huge globe was, at one time, capable of revolving on its base and spinning on its axis.
Acoustics
The hard spherical surface of the globe reflects sound and produces striking acoustical effects. It forms a remarkable whispering galleryWhispering gallery
A whispering gallery is a gallery beneath a dome, vault, or enclosed in a circular or elliptical area in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the building....
so that visitors standing at corresponding locations near opposite ends the bridge can speak to each other and be heard as if they were standing next to each other. One visitor writes:
"There are many whispering galleries around the world, such as in St Paul's CathedralSt Paul's CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
in London, or the Echo Wall in BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
's Temple of HeavenTemple of HeavenThe Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
. However, the Mapparium is different in that speaking in any direction, since it is a full sphere, will result in the same effect. Furthermore, standing in the middle of the sphere and speaking produces the unnerving effect of hearing yourself in surround sound with startling clarity."