Biosphère (former United States Pavilion, Expo 67)

The Biosphère stands at 160 Chemin du Tour-de-l'Isle on Île Sainte-Hélène in Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec. It began as the United States pavilion at Expo 67, the world's fair held in Montreal in 1967, and was designed by the American architect and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller as a large geodesic dome. The structure, about 62 metres across and 76 metres tall, was made of a steel lattice covered with transparent acrylic panels, and the pavilion contained exhibits on American art, technology, and space exploration, with a minirail running through the interior. The United States gave the pavilion to the City of Montreal after the fair, and it was used for a time as an aviary. In 1976 a fire during maintenance burned away the acrylic skin, leaving the steel lattice exposed, and the building stood abandoned for years. In the 1990s the lattice was enclosed again within a new structure, and in 1995 it reopened as the Biosphère, an environment museum, later operated by Espace pour la vie, the Montreal group of nature museums. Its exhibits address water, climate change, sustainable living, and ecosystems of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes region, using interactive displays that make a thematic rather than chronological presentation. Inside, the lattice frame is still visible, and a viewing platform offers a view of the dome's interior structure. The dome is one of the most recognisable surviving structures of Expo 67 and is often seen from the Old Port or the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. It is reached by Metro to Jean-Drapeau station, and a visit usually takes about 90 minutes, with the nearby Expo 67 sites and the park's trails extending the outing.