The world's smallest bell tower?

Belltowers are the theme of the day. This one might be the world's smallest? It inspires something in the man on the bench. He is either lost in devotion, or rehearsing the speech he has to give to the Minnesota High Technology spring conference at the convention center nearby.

Less mystery. More seating.

Few things are as unmysterious as a convention center. But I saw these chairs spotlit by the sun as I passed from one skyway to another through the convention center. Intriguing.

The subject is bells.

Very pretty bell tower seen from the Convention Center skyway. Read the next post for the story.

Belltowers, patience, and gifts

Look very closely or click to enlarge to see the Central Lutheran Church's Belltower rising above the Normandy Inn in the middle ground. They both crown the last leg of the Thrivent skyway, as seen from the 6th floor of the Municipal Government Center parking ramp.
Not strictly skyway related, but...
The belltower was part of the original plans for the church, built in 1928, but funds ran out. The church managed to serve the community for 75 years without its bell tower. Then, anno mirabilus! In 2003 an anonymous donor provided funds to finally build the tower to original specs. The bells were cast by a 250 year-old firm in France, and include a 4800 pound beauty among the 47 total. The tower is 139 feet tall, and the church is located at 333 South Twelfth Street.

Frames within the frame

Alyssa serenely holds court in the Main Street Gallery and Gift Shop, in the skyway arcade of the Investors Building. There is a photo earlier in this blog of the owner, David Yorks with a sign in the window which reads "It is what it is." My wife sent me back to buy the sign, and I had a chance to chat with Alyssa about business on the skyways, the shifting tastes of downtown art purchasers. (They don't buy posters like they used to -- they are going for nice frames and original art) Go to their website and tell them you support art on the skyways. Or stop by and see the real, live art.

Photo of a skyway inside a photo inside the skyway system

This is a picture of a picture of a skyway in the promenade between skyways in the US Trust building.  By Larry Kanfer.  He had a gallery in the skyway a few years back, I believe in the Baker Building, and I always loved his photography. 

Style. Mystery. Event Planning. Tunnels.

Jerry allowed me to take her picture when she determined I wasn't a stalker. She has a mysterious business on the skyway level of Gaviidae. After we talked about the skyways for a bit, she invited me back for a demo of the event-planning software they are promoting. "We like to have a minimalist look, " she said, "It makes people come in and ask questions." I asked questions about the event planning software and am intrigued.  It is one of the more visible and mysterious businesses on the skyway, for sure.

She also told me about the tunnels beneath Seoul, South Korea that have shopping arcades and are connected across the downtown. The holeways? Can you order things from the Hole Earth Catalog?  Sorry, couldn't resist that one.  I want to go there, and I believe Copenhagen has similar arcades that span blocks beneath the city's core.  If a city built skyways and tunnelways, would the streets disappear?

Skyway people

I was snapping pictures of the entry to the Westin when he saw me and said I wanted to take a picture of him. The sign said it was Moses' shoe shine.

Raising the pane threshold on the skyway

Replacing a pane of glass on the skyway between the Government Center and the US Bank Plaza. The worker on the right is convinced I am with OSHA. The whole thing had a kind of raising the flag on Iwo Jima feel to it.

Pane management on the skyway

Replacing a pane of glass on skyway between Government Center and US Bank Plaza, with reflections of the bank interior.

Pane management on the skyway

Replacing a pane of glass on the skyway between the Government Center and the US Bank Plaza. With reflections of the interior traffic.

Day after the opener

Skyway between IDS and Gaviidae Common, 2 out of 3 people watch the Twins Fans headed for the Target Field.

The shroud of pigeon

A bird, probably a pigeon, smacked into the glass of the west skyway out of the IDS center, and left this ghostly image of itself. When I first noticed it, I thought it was a bat. On closer inspection, it looked like a small medieval demon. Finally it looked like the unfortunate pigeon that it actually was.

Twins Opener

A fan poses with the Kirby Puckett statue.

Twins opener

From the skyway, the opening of the controversial open-air Target Field was a muted spectacle. On the ground it was the State Fair without the odors. After the opening it wasn't controversial anymore.  Everyone I talked to or read loves it.  It made me realize the skyways and the ballfield are both examples of public-private collaboration that seem improbable or wrong at some point in their careers, but can have positive outcomes that defy any textbook or ideological assumptions.

Catch of the day

Tools, grease, buckets, body parts framed by the escalator all counterpoint the nonchalance of the couple arriving on the up escalator. Today my photo assignment was to wait for a photo that wanted to be taken. This was it.

Figure Ground relationship

Seen from the skyway level, this woman looking at red crysanthemums is the figure against the backdrop of the grand scale USBank atrium. But she is wedged by perspective between the great wing of granite and the glass wall of the flower store. I take a lot of photos with small figures within large spaces. As I get older the spaces become more complex, contain more story elements. I started with a minimalist love of smooth empty space, but my vision, like my heart, becomes more cluttered with time.

The skyway as reflecting pool

In US Bank skyway skyway level promenade, the polished stone floor reflects the movement of bodies against and with the light. The building atrium has become, with four skyway connections, a crossroads. In the left upper third of the photo you can see the granite chevron suspended above the atrium ground level on thin wires.

Buildings as pretty things

Downtown, there are a lot of interesting surfaces and reflections, glass and stone conversing in the language of rippled symmetry.

Full emptyness

In the middle of the daytime weekday downtown scene. Minneapolis as a frame in a zen parable about the hunting of the bull.