Whatever Happened to Biosphere 2?

With all the talk about the environment and climate change and the with success of eco-themed TV show Life After People, I was struck by this blog post/ photo essay at BLDGBLOG on the degradation of Biosphere 2, the experiment in building a self-contained ecological biosphere in a set of buildings in the Arizona desert. (You can see it in better condition here, with the cheery tag “Biophere 2: Where Science Lives”).

It’s a haunting set of images, punctuated by the possibility that the whole site will be converted into a suburban development called “Biosphere Estates.” No punchline needed after that.