Don’t Try This At Home

Elaine, at Studio Staicoff in Portland, wrote:
“I especially liked the photo of the Royale bike rack. (though it’s begging for a graffiti addition…is there a pool to see how fast it’ll happen? See attached.)”

“With your permission, I would like to forward it to my friends at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance here in Portland. They’re a non-profit advocacy group that does good things for bicyclists in Oregon. I’m a member, and I’m volunteering on a project with them. I sit on a citizens advisory committee that is overseeing a major downtown mass transit improvement project. I’m representing the BTA and bicyclist interests on the project. So I get to say things like…”we need cool bike racks and here’s an example of one.”
Do you know who made the Royale rack?”

Does someone know exactly who crafted – and designed – the rack?

Celebrate STL


Original Keller Drugs marquee
Photo by Ken Konchel
In a previous post, helpful commentators filled in the missing info on the Hardt Building, and I finally found the photo of the old sign. It’s from the postcard version of a print by my absolute favorite architectural photographer under the age of 90 (Julius Shulman being my favorite, and he’s about 93), Ken Konchel.
Big bear hugs to Mr. Konchel for gladly allowing me permission to run his photo.

the royale by toby weiss
The Royale
South Kingshighway @ Juniata, St. Louis, MO
They installed
the coolest bike rack!!!
It’s advertising and public art for the new tavern, and convenient for imbibing urban bikers. All this without being forced to do so by laws we don’t have. Well played, and much appreciated.

the st. louis planetarium by toby weiss
James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Forest Park, St. Louis, MO
It’s the first day of summer, and I’m all aquiver with excitement over Mother Nature’s promise, when the one thing that stopped me dead in my tracks was the man-made Planetarium. It’s such a pure shape, elegant in its simplicity.
To my mind, the STL Modern Troika is the Arch, the Planetarium and Busch Stadium. They represent a 5-year period where St. Louis made assured and cultured statements with its civic architecture. For a brief moment, our city was emboldened by the future, and on this gorgeous summer day, I saw this sight (above), and felt the same.