Big globes are rare but not unusual. The image to the left is one I took when I was in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago and is a natural gas tank painted up as a globe. It makes a great globe but one of the benefits of smaller globes is that they can be spun and viewed from different angles. With this globe, the viewer is essentially stuck with a southern hemisphere perspective (not such a bad thing for northerners to experience from time to time).

The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity has had a 30 foot diameter globe since 1935. The beauty of this globe is that, not only is it made of stained glass, but it is meant to be viewed from the inside. Based on Rand McNally’s 1934 world map, it shows the world as it was back then, with very different borders. The Library website has more background information and a gallery of photos.

By way of Designorati.