1964 New York World's Fair
I have two favorite World's Fair expositions. The first one being the 1962 held in Seattle, also known as 'Century 21', the second one is the fair that was held in Queens, New York in 1964. It was the largest World's Fair ever hosted, and the theme for it was "Peace Through Understanding". This was represented through a huge model of the Earth called the 'Unisphere' which still stands there today. Like the fair in Seattle in 1962, this fair was mostly remembered for its mid century American corporate culture, bright plans for the future and 'Space Age' design. It was also the place where Walt Disney created and tested his system for 'audio-animatronics' which was used for several rides on the fair, i.e. Ford's 'Magic Skyway' and General Electric's 'Carousel of progress'.
More than 50 million people from all over the world visited the fair, but the fair had proven to be too costly and was not able to repay its financial backers. The fair closed permanently in 1970, however some of the buildings and pavilions survived. The most famous one is the 'Unisphere' which has become a symbol for Queens.
Related links
Wikipedia
Archive.org (movie)
The Unisphere, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
Panorama showing one corner, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
The Ford Pavilion designed by Disney, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
Monorail, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964. From nycsubway.org
More than 50 million people from all over the world visited the fair, but the fair had proven to be too costly and was not able to repay its financial backers. The fair closed permanently in 1970, however some of the buildings and pavilions survived. The most famous one is the 'Unisphere' which has become a symbol for Queens.
Related links
Wikipedia
Archive.org (movie)
The Unisphere, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
Panorama showing one corner, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
The Ford Pavilion designed by Disney, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964
Monorail, Worlds Fair, New York, 1964. From nycsubway.org
Labels: architecture, design, photos, world's fair
Posted at 3:56 PM | 13 comments | links to this post 
My name is Chris and I live in Sweden. I love the 50s and 60s lifestyle and design. I am very fascinated by the architecture of the period too, for instance googie, modernism, the work of Joseph Eichler, John Lautner and Arne Jacobsen's international style. I have a large archive with space-age, library, bossa, cocktail, retro soundtracks and exotica music. I also believe that things were better in the old days.
13 Comments:
Such gorgeous and beautiful scenes. Everything looks so vibrant and hopeful. How uttery sad it is that it has been allowed to fall into disrepair:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/nypavilion/wfair6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/nypavilion/index.htm&h=323&w=430&sz=75&hl=en&start=11&tbnid=OLhqshSYrnfr5M:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1964%2BNew%2BYork%2BWorld%2527s%2BFair%2Btoday%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
I hope the above works.
July 24, 2007 4:11 PM
Yes indeed. Too bad they don't organize fairs like this anymore. Thank you for the link! Interesting read and nice photos.
July 25, 2007 3:05 PM
And it's too bad that so many old structures like these are not preserved.
July 25, 2007 11:24 PM
hi chris
this is a superb site & the compilations are so groovy...........
July 28, 2007 6:49 PM
I wanna go to work in a monorail like that! I might even stop dreaming about going to work in a AMC Pacer, wich is my favourite car (but not my wifes).
July 30, 2007 12:30 PM
I went to the World's Fair in 1965 (I was 11) and had a great time. It's one of my fondest memories. The photos really capture the color and brilliance of the pavilions. In the wide panorama shot, if you look just to the right of the U.S. Royal Tire ferris wheel you'll see some of the life size Sinclair Oil fiberglass dinosaurs. The triceratops ended up starring in a TV adaptation of the children's book "The Enormous Egg" and eventually wound up on the Smithsonean Institute grounds.
P.S. Love your site and your compilations!
August 2, 2007 1:35 AM
yes, yes, i want to travel in a monorail like that!
August 3, 2007 5:41 AM
nice post!
ya happy now? hehe
August 4, 2007 7:48 PM
Yay, I am one happy camper now! Don't forget your password again Miss Peepshow ;-)
August 5, 2007 3:24 PM
ummm. actually, come to think of it, i've been logged on blogger, you know like, automatically or something. but anywho! how about changing your website layout? :D
August 6, 2007 10:25 AM
Why change it, don't you like it? ;-) Yeah well, I have had it for almost three years now but I couldn't be bothered to change it. The idea behind this blog/site is to provide content, not a place where I try out cool new graphic design ideas, I got other places for that! :D
August 6, 2007 1:36 PM
I like the coloring and layout of your blog as is. It's simple, direct. There are some blogs that use a black background with difficult-to-read letters, etc. I say Chris keep the format and keep up the good work.
http://TelstarLounge.blogspot.com
August 7, 2007 4:04 PM
Thank you for your input Lee, I agree with you. It's a simple and nice looking layout. I will keep it until further notice. Take that Janepeepshow! *haha* ;-)
August 7, 2007 10:15 PM
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home