May3

the soul of the building.

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built by albert kahn and george mason in 1904, one of my favorite places to visit is this lovely glass structure, filled with botanical wonders. during world war II, the anna scripps whitcomb conservatory was responsible for saving endangered cypripedium (greek ‘the shoe of Venus”) orchids, housing them during the bombing of london.

the conservatory has recently been undergoing renovations for last 5 months, and is slated to reopen later in may on it’s 120th birthday. the conservatory/aquarium site had been an old baseball field and remains the oldest conservatory in the united states.

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*The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory is a greenhouse and a botanical garden located on Belle Isle, a 982-acre island park located on the Detroit River within Detroit, Michigan. While located near the Canada–United States border, the island is entirely within the U.S. (wiki)

 

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“an old building is like a show. you smell the soul of the building. and the building tells you how to redo it.”

-sir cameron mackintosh

 

 

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photo credit: belle isle photography, mark gade

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43 responses »

  24. This brings back fond memories. When I, as a very young woman, travelled across the states, kind ppl we met and who talked to us for a long moment, they asked us whether we knew ‚the glass house‘, turned into a restaurant with live plants and birds…. Of course we didn‘t and they spontaneously invited us to that place. It was a disused huge conservatory, done up as a gorgeous restaurant with white tablecloths and linen napkins…. It was my first meal in such style and we had birds flying across the building, birds were singing, palm fronds touching the ppl – a unique and very wonderful event. Even now, so many decades later, I wonder what made those people invite us to such an expensive, otherworldly place, and I‘m still very thankful.
    In Paris but also in other cities and countries, I have visited such beautiful glass constructions. It always was and is an experience of exquisite joy and wonderment. If I have a chance to visit any of these places, I always do. They make me truly happy.

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