Editing Climatron

{{Short description|Geodesic dome greenhouse in St. Louis, MO}}
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[[Image:Climatron, Missouri Botanical Gardens.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Climatron greenhouse at the Missouri Botanical Garden, side entrance, 2004]]
[[File:Climatron INTERIOR VIEW, HABS MO,96-SALU,105L-8.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Interior of the Climatron as it was in the early 1980s ([[Historic American Buildings Survey|HABS]] photo – August 1983)]]

The '''Climatron''' is a greenhouse enclosed in a [[geodesic dome]] that is part of the [[Missouri Botanical Garden]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]]. Initiated by then Garden director [[Frits Warmolt Went|Frits W. Went]], the dome is the world's first completely air-conditioned greenhouse and the first geodesic dome to be enclosed in rigid [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|Plexiglass (Perspex)]] panels. Completed in 1960, it was designed by T. C. Howard, of Synergetics, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/domes.htm|title=Dome Houses|work=Triangle Modernist Houses|accessdate=2011-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002052048/http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/domes.htm|archive-date=2011-10-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> The broad [[climate|climatic range]] within the dome, which recreates a lowland rain forest, is achieved by sophisticated climate controls without using interior partitions.<ref name=habs />

The structure is an unpartitioned half-sphere dome, 42 m in diameter and 21 m high. The frame is supported by aluminum tubes under [[Compressive stress|compression]] and aluminum rods under [[Tension (physics)|tension]]. The St. Louis architects Murphy and Mackey were the architects on record. Synergetics, Inc were the designers of the dome. The architects received the 1961 [[Reynolds Metals|R. S. Reynolds]] Memorial Award of $25,000 for their architectural use of aluminum. In 1976 it was named one of the 100 most significant architectural achievements in United States history.<ref name="MBG">{{cite web|title=Climatron Conservatory: History and Architecture|url=http://www.mobot.org/hort/gardens/CLhistarchit.shtml|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|accessdate=19 June 2010}}</ref>

The dome contains a small stone pre-existing [[Neoclassical architecture|neo-classical]] [[Folly|pavilion]] and over 400 varieties of plant life.  A bank of 24 flood lights, revolving at night in five-minute cycles, simulates noon light on one side of the dome and moonlight on other side. The climate ranges from the Amazon through Hawaii and Java to India.

Over time, the building experienced deterioration of the original Plexiglas panels and the adverse effect of humidity on some metal elements.<ref name=habs>{{Cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/mo/mo0400/mo0413/data/mo0413data.pdf |title=Missouri Botanical Garden, Climatron |last=Myers |first=Denys Peter |date=September 22, 1983 |website=Historic American Buildings Survey |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |page=1 |accessdate=10 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024051527/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/mo/mo0400/mo0413/data/mo0413data.pdf |archivedate=24 October 2012 }}</ref> The greenhouse was closed for extensive renovations in 1988 and reopened in March 1990.<ref name="MBG"/> The original Plexiglas [[glazing (window)|glazing]] was replaced with 2,425 panes of heat-strengthened glass (containing a plastic interlayer called Saflex) and coated with a [[low-emissivity]] film. In 2010, the Botanical Garden celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Climatron.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moon |first=Jill |title=Botanical Garden's Climatron turns 50 |url=http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/botanical-38218-climatron-garden.html |work=The Telegraph (Illinois) |accessdate=5 June 2010 |date=29 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723071953/http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/botanical-38218-climatron-garden.html |archivedate=23 July 2011}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Buckminster Fuller]], patented the geometry for geodesic domes, lecturer, inventor, and author
*[[Jewel Box (St. Louis, Missouri)]], a previous greenhouse built in St. Louis in [[Forest Park (St. Louis, Missouri)|Forest Park]]
*[[Saint Louis Science Center]], a museum whose original 1963 planetarium building has a unique hyperboloid structure
*[[Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory]]
*[[List of botanical gardens in the United States]]
*[[Phytotron]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{HABS |survey=MO-1135-L |id=mo0413 |title=Missouri Botanical Garden, Climatron, 2345 Tower Grove Avenue, Saint Louis, Independent City, MO |photos=12 |data=2 |cap=1}}
*[https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Environment-Phytotrons-Climate-Control/dp/082294474X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481033911&sr=8-1&keywords=david+pd+munns David P.D. Munns, ''Engineering the Environment: Phytotrons and the Quest to Control Climate in the Cold War'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017).]
*[http://www.worldoftrons.com/blog/2017/2/25/climatron The Climatron at World of Trons ]

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[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1960]]
[[Category:Geodesic domes]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri]]
[[Category:Missouri Botanical Garden]]

[[pt:Climatron]]