5-3-09 Sunday (Glass Flowers)

As usual, Jim planned out another great day of sight-seeing. First destination was to Mystery Castle. Wikipedia excerpt: It was built in the 1930s by Boyce Luther Gulley (died 1945) for his daughter Mary Lou Gulley. After learning he had tuberculosis, Gulley moved from Seattle, Washington to the Phoenix area and began building the house from found or inexpensive materials. Boyce Gulley died in 1945, and Mary Lou and her mother were notified by attorney that they had inherited the property. Shortly after, the mother and daughter moved in.

The next adventure wasn’t as interesting. A free tour of Cosanti. Their open-aired “factory” where their famous Paolo Soleri Windbells are made and sold. They feature ceramic and bronze. The prices made me ill. We did watch an interesting video about the abstract architectural side of Paolo Soleri. Wikipedia excerpt: Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 miles (110 km) north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet (1,130 meters). Architect Paolo Soleri, using a concept he calls arcology (a portmanteau of architecture and ecology), started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. Cosanti had a lot of his experimental buildings on site. You should go check out the links I provided.

The best today was the Desert Botanical Garden. I have TONS of photos. Aside from the beautiful trees, plants and flowers, a glass exhibit featuring Dale Chihuly’s The Nature of Glass was a wonderful addition to the landscape! I played with different photography shots. I’ll just let the video do the talking. The photo to the left is probably my favorite. Isn’t nature wonderful?