Twin Cities Tour Guide

Hello again,

         Sorry about the holiday hiatus, but I’m back now and so is the weird list. Today’s post is all about bright ideas: a building that may be the world’s largest mood ring (thanks for the suggestion DK), and a light fixture so big it affects the temperature around it.

Weird Thing #9: The “Mood” Building - Target Headquarters

The invention of the “Mood Ring” was a hallmark day for people who were incapable of determining what kind of mood they were in on there own. And just in case the city of Minneapolis ever wonders how it is feeling, the Target Corporation has created what appears to be a technicolor color-changing “Mood building”:

According to the building, Minneapolis was feeling blue when this photo was

 taken by anjouwu.

The lights obviously do not actually reflect the mood of the city, but they do constantly change colors. The lights came on for the first time just after September 11, 2001 to light the skyline with patriotic hues. For a much more comprehensive story of this building, check out this site. Or check out the building in person. It’s located at 11th St. and Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis (map).

Weird Thing #10: Rain, Sleet, Snow and the Longest Light Fixture in the World

Our next weird thing is record setter, courtesy of the United States Postal Service. The main downtown post office in Minneapolis is in itself a record breaker, being the largest Art Deco style industrial building in the U.S., but it’s the enormous light fixture inside that really shines. Running the length of the lobby, this 350 foot, 16 ton chandelier is the longest and one of the largest in the world. 

The record-setting fixture beautifully photographed by Payton Chung

Believe it or not, this massive fixture was actually originally intended help control the temperature in the post office! That’s right, the lights generate enough heat to affect the temperature in the lobby! If you ever get a chance, stop in the Post Office, at 100 1st St. S (map), and step back in time with the brass rails, bronze teller cages, and marble terrazzo floor of this record setting building. And you’ll be able to clearly see it all under the warm glowing, warming (literally) glow of the longest light fixture in the world!

 

There you have it, a post on two more weird, but strangely illuminating oddities in the Twin Cities. To see the rest of the list, check out the master list. I’d love to hear your comments, and if you want to get instant updates, subscribe using the box on the right! 

Thanks for reading!

Explore posts in the same categories: Architecture Point of Interest, Fun for All Ages, Great Photo Spot, Inexpensive, Just for fun, educational

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Architecture Point of Interest, Fun for All Ages, Great Photo Spot, Inexpensive, Just for fun, educational. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.