World's Fair

From Free net encyclopedia

A World's Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid-19th century. The official sanctioning body is the Bureau of International Expositions (usually abbreviated BIE, from the organization's name in French, Bureau International des Expositions).

BIE-approved fairs are divided into a number of types: universal, and international or specialized. They usually last for between 3 and 6 months. In addition, countries can hold their own 'fair', 'exposition', or 'exhibition', without BIE endorsement.

Universal expositions

Universal Expositions encompass universal themes that affect the full gamut of human experience, usually at a unique period of time for humankind. These Universal Expos usually have themes based on which pavilions are made to represent the country's opinion on that theme. The theme for the Expo at Lisbon (1998) was "water" and the theme for the 2005 Expo in Japan was "nature's wisdom". Universal expositions are usually held less frequently than specialized or international expositions because they are more expensive. To distinguish them from lesser fairs, they require total design of pavilion buildings from the ground up. As a result, nations compete for the most outstanding or memorable structure—recent examples include Japan, France, Morocco & Spain at Expo '92. Recent Universal Expositions include Brussels Expo '58, Seattle Expo '62, known as the Century 21 Exposition, Montreal Expo '67, San Antonio HemisFair '68, Osaka Expo '70, Knoxville, Tennessee Expo '82, New Orleans Expo '84, Vancouver, British Columbia Expo '86, Brisbane Expo '88, Seville Expo '92, Lisbon Expo '98, and Hanover, Germany Expo 2000. The Expo 2005 was held at Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Sometimes pre-fabricated structures are also used to minimize costs for developing countries or for countries from a geographical block to share space (i.e. Plaza of the Americas at Seville '92).

BIE has moved to sanction expos only every 5 years, starting with the 21st century; with the 1980s and 1990s overflowing with expos back to back, some see this as a means to cut down potential expenditure by participating nations.

The rule may apply to all expos, or it may end up that Universal expositions will be restricted to every 5 years or so, with International / Specialized expositions in the in-between years for countries wishing to celebrate a special event.

List of hitherto official world expositions according to the BIE:

1851 London
1855 Paris
1862 London
1867 Paris
1873 Vienna
1876 Philadelphia
1878 Paris
1880 Melbourne
1888 Barcelona
1889 Paris
1893 Chicago
1897 Brussels
1900 Paris
1904 St. Louis
1905 Liège
1906 Milan
1910 Brussels
1913 Ghent
1915 San Francisco
1933 Chicago
1937 Paris
1939 New York
1958 Brussels
1967 Montreal
1970 Osaka
1982 Knoxville
1986 Vancouver
1992 Seville
1998 Lisbon
2000 Hanover
2005 Nagoya

The only Universal exposition to be held without BIE approval was the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. Because that Fair did not comply with BIE rules in place at the time, the sanctioning organization denied the Fair an "official" status. The Fair proceeded without BIE approval and turned to tourism and trade organizations to host national pavilions in lieu of official government sponsorship.

The World's Fair idea has been revived for 2006 with a "for Kids" theme in Orlando, Florida, USA but it is only a thinly-veiled marketing expo. (Note: EPCOT, which is near Orlando, Florida, has many of the characteristics of a typical Universal Exposition - national pavilions, as well as exhibits concerning technology and/or the future, along with more typical amusement-park rides.)

[edit]

International or specialized expositions

International expositions are usually united by a common theme—such as Transportation (Vancouver Expo '86) or 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' (Brisbane Expo '88). Such themes are narrower than the worldwide scope of Universal expositions.

Specialized expositions have a narrow theme, such as the International Garden Expositions, held in Osaka, Japan (1990) and Kunming, China (1999).

Specialized and international expositions are usually smaller in scale and cheaper to run for the host committee and participating nations because the architectural fees are lower and they only have to rent the space from the host committee, usually with the pre-fabricated structure already completed. Some say this leads to better creative content as more money can be spent in this area.

Specialized and international are similar in that the host organization provides the rental space to participating countries, as well as the building itself, which is usually pre-fabricated. Countries then have the option of 'adding' their own colours, design etc. to the outside of the pre-fabricated structure and filling in the inside with their own content. One example of this is China, which invariably has chosen to add a Chinese archway in the front of its pre-fabricated pavilions to symbolize the nation (Expo '88, Expo '92, Expo '93).

[edit]

After the fair

The majority of the structures are temporary, and are dismantled at the end of the expo. Towers from several of these fairs are notable exceptions. By far the most famous of these is the Eiffel Tower, built for Paris' Exposition Universelle (1889), which is now a symbol of Paris. Ironically, some contemporary critics wanted the tower dismantled after the fair's conclusion.

Other major structures that were held over from these fairs:

The Crystal Palace, from the first World's Fair in London in 1851, chosen because it could be recycled to recoup losses, was such a success that it was moved and intended to be permanent, only to be destroyed by a fire (of its contents) in 1936.
The 1876 Centennial Exposition's main building is now the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building in Washington, DC.
The main buildings of Expo '98, in Lisbon, were completely integrated in the city itself.

Other outstanding exceptions:

The remains of Expo '29 in Seville, Spain where the 'Plaza de España' forms part of a large park and forecourt, and many of the pavilions have become offices for Consulate-Generals.
The Aquarium of Milano Expo '06 where built for the fair and after 100 years is still open and was recently renovated.
The ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health), was settled in Milan during the Expo '06 and had the first congress in the Expo pavillions. In the next June 2006 the ICOH will celebrate the first century of life in Milan.
The pavilions of Expo '92 in Seville had been reconverted into a technological square and a theme park.
The M. H. de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park was a survivor of the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition until it was replaced for a larger building.
The Palace of Fine Arts is all that remains from the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
In Brussels, the Atomium still stands at the site of the 1958 exposition.
The Space Needle in Seattle was the symbol of the 1962 World's Fair, and the US pavilion from that fair became the Pacific Science Center.
San Antonio kept intact the Tower of the Americas, the Institute of Texan Cultures and the Convention Center from HemisFair '68.
Among the structures still standing from Expo '67 in Montreal are Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67, Buckminster Fuller's American pavilion (now the Biosphère), and the French pavilion (now the Casino de Montréal).
The Sunsphere remains extant from the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is housed in the last remaining building of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which had been the Palace of Fine Arts. The intent or hope was to make all Columbian structures permanent, but most of the structures burned, possibly the result of arson during the Pullman Strike. The fair's only other known remaining building is the Norway pavilion, a small house located at a museum in Wisconsin.
The World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was constructed for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, and is another example.
A particular case is the EUR quarter in Rome, built for a World's Fair planned for 1942, was never used for its intended purpose, because of World War II, and today hosts various offices, governmental or private, and some museums.

Some World's Fair sites became (or reverted to) parks incorporating some of the expo elements, such as:

Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois - Site of the 1893 Columbian Exposition
Nashville - Tennessee Centennial Expo
Saint Louis - Louisiana Purchase Exposition
San Diego - Panama-California Exposition (1915) & California Pacific International Exposition (1935)
Seattle - Century 21 Exposition
Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York City - Site of both the 1939/1940 and 1964/1965 New York World's Fairs
Montreal - Expo '67
San Antonio - HemisFair '68
Osaka - Expo '70
Spokane - Expo '74
Vancouver - Expo '86
Brisbane - Expo '88
Seville, Spain - Expo '92
Daejeon (Taejŏn), South Korea - Expo '93
Lisbon, Portugal - Expo '98.

Some pavilions have been moved overseas intact:

The USSR Pavilion from Expo '67 is now in Moscow.
The Japan Pavilion from Expo '70 is the Asian Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC.

Many exhibitions and rides created by Walt Disney and his WED Enterprises company for the 1964 New York World's Fair (which was held over into 1965) were moved to the world-famous Disneyland after the closing of the Fair. Many of the rides are still operating today like "it's a small world" and "The Carousel of Progress" Currently, Disney has a theme park in Orlando called EPCOT which houses what amounts to a permanent World's Fair.

The Belgium Pavilion from the 1939 New York World's Fair was relocated to Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.

[edit]