Balls

A Minor History of Giant Spheres from Cabinet Magazine.
[via Archinect]


Newton Cenotaph by Étienne-Louis Boullée, 1784

Visionary French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée designs his Cenotaph for Newton, a giant sphere punctured by holes that create the illusion of suspended stars. He writes, "O Newton! … I conceived the idea of surrounding thee with thy discovery, and thus, somehow, surrounding thee with thyself. … From whatever side we look at this shape, no trick of perspective can alter the magnificence of its perfect form... as soft and as flowing as it is possible to imagine."

BLDGBLOG had a couple of great posts related to Boullee's monuments a while back. Well worth another look. For even more tangentary reading, see Pruned's entry about Jean-Jacques Lequeu.