Ephemeral 'Cities'

ethereal_reality · #1 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 12:58 AM**

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread showing the transient architecture of fairs and expositions.

Post photos of your favorite fairs/expositions, or any fair that your city has hosted in the past.

I think we all will come up with a pretty cool menagerie of images.

I'll start with my personal favorite, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
The fair was located on 630 acres south of downtown Chicago in an area known as Jackson Park.

Chicago Historical Society

Above: This is a view of the Administration Building.
The people in the photo gives you an idea of how gargantuan the buildings were.

Below is a great map of the fair.

skullsinthestars.files.wordpress

Excluded from the illustration above is the Midway Plaisance,
which extended one mile west and perpendicular to the rest of the fair.
It was the 'entertainment' area and the site of the world's first ferris wheel.

Also, in the lower right hand corner of the map above, you can see many railway lines
converging at the Terminal Railway Station. The station appears to be rather small in comparison
with the other buildings at the fair.

You can see that it isn't small at all in the photograph below.

brooklyn museum

Also in the map above, you can clearly see the largest building is the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building.
Designed by George B. Post, it covered 30 acres, and at the time was labeled the "the largest structure
on earth."

Below: The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. The tiny 'specks' on the roof are people..

brooklyn museum

Below: One of six portals to the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building.
Notice the lone woman in the photograph for perspective.

brooklyn museum

Below: A view north, toward downtown Chicago, from the roof of the Manufactures & Liberal Arts Bldg.

brooklyn museum

Above: The large domed building on the left is the Illinois Building and the large domed building on the right is the U.S. Government Building.

Below: The Machinery Building, just south of the Administration Building.

Chicago Historical Society

Built to last for only the duration of the fair, these fragile buildings were mostly constructed with plaster and jute fiber known as staff.
There is an exception, and I'll include it in my next post (unless someone beats me to it).

Feel free to post your own photos of any fairs that interests you, or fairs that were important for your city.

wrab · #2 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 1:26 AM**

I've always been fascinated by Osaka, Japan's Expo '70, which was the last of the truly great 20th Century expositions:

The Expo's centerpiece, Taro Okamoto's Temple of the Sun:

Life http://www.life.com/search/?type=images&q0=expo+'70&k61021=Japan

Fairgrounds:

Life http://www.life.com/search/?type=images&q0=expo+'70&k61021=Japan

ColDayMan · #3 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 1:49 AM**

Wow @ Osaka's.

jodelli · #4 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 2:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread showing the transient architecture of fairs and expositions.

Below: A view north, toward downtown Chicago, from the roof of the Manufactures & Liberal Arts Bldg.

brooklyn museum

Above: The large domed building on the left is the Illinois Building and the large domed building on the right is the U.S. Government Building.

Built to last for only the duration of the fair, these fragile buildings were mostly constructed with plaster and jute fiber known as staff.
There is an exception, and I'll include it in my next post (unless someone beats me to it).

The exception is the Museum of Science And Industry in the right center background of the photo looking north.

jodelli · #5 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 3:16 AM**

Expo 67

I was a kid when this happened and the future never looked so bright.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e000990829.jpg

From Wikimedia:

Файл:Советский павильон на ЭКСПО-67

Anybody remember Ed Sullivan?

The Canadian Pavilions:
The Quebec Pavilion in the upper left still exists as part of the Casino Montreal.

Others that still exist:

France (also part of the Casino):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ca...e_Montreal.JPG

Habitat on the mainland:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Habitat_panorama.jpg

Bucky's US Pavillion, now the Biosphere

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bi...e_montreal.JPG

ethereal_reality · #6 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 4:00 AM**

Wrabbit, your pics of Expo '70 are amazing.
It's the first expo I can vaguely remember as a kid, via Archie Comics of all places.

Jodelli, Canada should be very proud of Expo '67.
I have some interesting pics of Expo '67. I'll have to find them and post them.

ethereal_reality · #7 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 4:14 AM**

Here is a model of the United States Pavilion at Montreal's Expo '67.

buckminster fuller foundation

snapshot found on ebay

texcolo · #8 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 4:47 AM**

That picture of the Habitat is now my desktop!!!

ethereal_reality · #9 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 6:11 AM**

Seattle 1964 snapshot.

jamesandtim on ebay

wrab · #10 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 8:02 AM**

Expo '67 maps:

http://expo67.ncf.ca/expo_maps_main.html

BnaBreaker · #11 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 9:47 AM**

Here is a photo and an overview of The 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition, which took place in Nashville to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's statehood. There are no remaining structures from the fair itself, but The Parthenon was reconstructed with permanent materials in the twenties.

Unfortunately, these two pictures from Wikipedia were all I could find.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...dParthenon.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...a.03354%29.jpg

wrab · #12 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 2:22 PM**

^ Interesting-looking gondolas in the upper left of that last print.

The Eastern side of the fairgrounds are very much in the style of the Chicago Columbian City Beautiful, with Beaux Arts pavilions flanking an Olmstead-like naturalized lagoon. The Western side looks more conventional. Almost like two different fairgrounds.

-----

The Pantheon makes a memorable appearance in Robert Altman's Nashville, which is one of the truly great movies of the '70s IMHO.

emathias · #13 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 3:00 PM**

Bits of trivia:

Barcelona hosted the world expo in 1888, Chicago in 1893 (started a year late), then Barcelona hosted again in 1929 and Chicago followed again in 1933. Also, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is very associated with both Chicago and Barcelona.

ethereal_reality · #14 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 8:25 PM**

The 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition looks great.
I think some of the more obscure fairs are just as interesting as the larger fairs.

I mean, there have been expositions in places like Omaha and Portland Or, to name a few.
I have a few photos from both those fairs (I'll look for them).

edsas · #15 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 8:42 PM**

Omaha's Trans-Mississippi Expo (1898) featured gondolas and a row of palaces. All buildings were, unfortunately, made from temporary materials.

Sources UNO: http://unotv.unomaha.edu/walls/wallspicts.html

Source Smithsonian Archives: http://siarchives.si.edu/

ethereal_reality · #16 Posted **Feb 2, 2010, 8:50 PM**

The Ferris Wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago) 1893.

chicago historical society

Unbelievably, the ferris wheel carried 2,160 people at a time.
There were 36 cars carrying 60 people each.

Below: The view from the ferris wheel looking east along the 'Midway Plaisance' toward the exposition and Lake Michigan.

brooklyn museum

Here's a comparison with today's ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

chicago tribune

wrab · #17 Posted **Feb 3, 2010, 5:15 PM**

^ Chicago 1893, say hello to Chicago 1933. This was the "A Century of Progress Exposition", held 1933-34.

What the map & panorama below don't indicate is just how very colorful the fairgrounds were. I'm still digging for some good pics & prints for that.

University of Chicago http://century.lib.uchicago.edu/images/century0204.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ce...s_Panorama.jpg

ethereal_reality · #18 Posted **Feb 3, 2010, 7:35 PM**

^^^ wrabbit, you're correct in mentioning that the Century of Progress was VERY colorful.
It's difficult to imagine the fair in all it's multi-colored glory when almost all the photographs
of the 1933 exposition are in black and white. I hope you're able to dig up some color photos
as most of mine are in B/W. (by the way, that second pano you posted is amazing)

In contrast, the Columbian Exposition was so monochromatic (except for Louis Sullivan's Transporation Building)
it became known as the 'White City'. After the fair, amusement parks named 'White City' sprung up in numerous cities
and towns across the country.

Even Chicago had it's own White City Amusement Park that many people still confuse with the Columbian Exposition.
see the link below:
http://chicago.urban-history.org/ven/pks/w_city.shtml

(four 0 four) · #19 Posted **Feb 3, 2010, 9:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

In contrast, the Columbian Exposition was so monochromatic (except for Louis Sullivan's Transporation Building)
it became known as the 'White City'. After the fair, amusement parks named 'White City' sprung up in numerous cities
and towns across the country.

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Erik Larson's book "Devil in the White City". I found it to be a fascinating account of the design, construction and history of the fair. The names (Olmstead, Sullivan, F.L. Wright among others), innovations (Ferris wheel, size/scope of the buildings, etc.) and issues they encountered (weather, fires, money, egos, etc.) all made for an educational and entertaining read.

I appreciate seeing all the incredible photos...thanks ethereal_reality!

ethereal_reality · #20 Posted **Feb 3, 2010, 10:43 PM**

I agree (four 0 four), "Devil in the White City" is an excellent book.
It's chock full of little known facts about the 1893 Columbian Exposition.

random house