Round Museum

Time passes. Things change. Sometimes this is ephemeral like clouds floating by in a blue sky, and other times as hard as a wrecking ball. On Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles, this was once the view from the open-air shopping plaza called 7+Fig, with this Round geodesic dome framing the nearby 52-story Pelli Tower for nearly a decade. Then, with redevelopment in 2012 the shopping center was reconstructed, renamed FIGat7th, and our Round... gone.

03.25.18

Winter is over... sort of. And so it is with "Winter Fountains", an installation of public art in Philadelphia that will be closing this week after being on display since November 2017. As part of the centennial celebration of the Ben Franklin Parkway, four of these 26-foot domes were installed along the Parkway at Aviator Park, the Rodin Museum, Park Towne Place and the Spring Garden Triangle. The illuminated digital projections feature undulating and swirling asteroid-like blobs that float over the half-sphere surface.

Like any self-respecting sculpted metal garden bird would do, Jerry the flamingo stands watch over the pansies and petunias by day and by night. His unblinking Round gaze is perfectly suited to the task. Steady. Trustworthy. Steely. Completely immobile. All while standing on one foot.

03.21.18

The iconic globe sign marks the entrance to the Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood, California. In true Hollywood fashion, its not just a sign -- it revolves, blows steam, has shooting water effects and dramatic lighting at night.

03.19.18

The Round fruit slices at the center of this dramatic wall mural in South Philadelphia were originally painted by artist James Burns and his team in 2006, and more recently restored in 2014 by Chroma Dolls. Titled "Our Urban Landscape", this colorful montage is one of over 3,500 murals around the city sponsored by the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia.

03.18.18

The Celtic Cross is a combination of a Christian cross and a ring surrounding the intersection. Legend has it that St. Patrick combined cross and circle symbols to give pagan followers a reference to the life-giving properities of the sun. It is also suggested that the ring is a nimbus, or halo of light which is used by many religions to indicate sacred figures.

03.16.18

There's a Battle Royale afoot. The challenge: collect the most balls in a limited amount of time. The tool: a robotic box on wheels with a scooper. STEAM programs around the world bring robotics design from the lab into the ring. Competitions have been set up for everything from genteel ball collecting tasks to axe-wielding gladiatorial combats. Over the years, robot Darwinism evolved the battling robot design to three basic types: lifter, spinner and wedge. In a rock-paper-scissors cycle of strategy, lifter beat wedge, spinner beats lifter, and wedge beats spinner.

03.15.18

In the darkness of the evening's curtain, the dance of light from a sparkler gives shape to movement. Circular forms linger in the air for the tiniest moment, squiggling tentacles of fire that quickly disappear as others crackle around to replace them. It burns, burns, burns, that ring of fire.

03.14.18

This Round crane control gives you some tempting speed choices at your construction site. If your experience level is low, you might want to dial it to the turtle and take a few baby steps first. If you already know your way around, then maybe crank it all the way to the rabbit. Straight-up newbies have to start on the snail, though.

03.12.18

Back in the early 1900s a trolley ride only cost you 5 cents. This mosaic sculpture "Trolley Fare" in Salisbury, North Carolina, was created in 2016 by sculptor Jeanette Brossart. It commemorates the history of the Fulton Heights neighborhood, which emerged at a time when nationwide planning spurred growth in towns around the state. This effort included extending Salisbury's existing streetcar tracks to the neighborhood in 1904 as a way to provide direct transportation for workers commuting to the Spencer Shops, the largest steam locomotive repair center of the Southern Railway Company.