Biosphere

The Biosphère is a geodesic dome on Ile Sainte-Hélène in Montréal. The building was the United States pavilion for the 1967 World Exhibition Expo 67.

Related Topics:
Geodesic dome - Montréal - Expo 67

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The spherical structure's architect was Buckminster Fuller. The building originally formed an enclosed structure of steel and acrylic, 76 meters (250 feet) in diameter and 62 meters (200 feet) high. A complex system of shades was used to control the internal temperature.

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The architects for the interior exhibition space were known as the Cambridge Seven. Visitors had access to four large theme platforms divided into seven levels. The building included a 37-meter-long escalator, the longest ever built at the time.

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A fire burned away the building's acrylic bubble in 1976, but the steel latticework remained.

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A science museum on the theme of water was built in the Biosphère in 1995. The new museum is a set of enclosed buildings designed by Éric Gauthier, inside the original steel skeleton.

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Biosphère museum site

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