What Happened To Cool World's Fairs ? - Beyond Tiki

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Mon, Nov 8, 2004 9:59 AM The New York Times November 5, 2004: U.S. Rejoins World's Fairs...With a little help from its sponsors By FRED A. BERNSTEIN SINCE the end of the cold war, the United States has given world's fairs the cold shoulder. In 1992, when Spain marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage with a huge fair in Seville, the State Department erected a tentlike structure that it had in storage. In 2000, the U.S. sat out the Hannover, Germany, exposition, which 181 countries attended. Now the United States wants back in the game. But because Congress banned federal financing of world's fairs in 1999, major corporations will be picking up the tab for the American pavilion at the first major expo of the 21st century, which opens next March in Aichi, Japan. Thom Filicia — the wisecracking interior designer on the hit TV show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" — will design the pavilion's V.I.P. suite, where sponsors like General Motors, ExxonMobil and DuPont will woo Japanese clients. "The U.S. is a product I believe in," said Mr. Filicia in his NoHo studio. And with America's image suffering abroad, he added, "We could use a world's fair every month." ...Most of the fair's expected 15 million visitors won't see Mr. Filicia's (V.I.P. suite) handiwork. Historically fairs provided architects a chance to experiment with materials and forms. Some structures, though intended to be temporary, have stood the test of time: the Eiffel Tower was created for the 1889 Paris Exposition; at the Montreal Expo in 1967, R. Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome wowed visitors to the American pavilion; the Space Needle in Seattle, a relic of the 1962 World's Fair, has become a landmark. In Hannover four years ago, architects including Peter Zumthor of Switzerland and Shigeru Ban of Japan created striking evocations of their countries. Alfred Heller, the author of a 1999 book about world's fairs, called America's no-show in Hannover an embarrassment. Mr. Heller says that the government's ambivalence about world's fairs reflects a feeling that after the fall of the Soviet Union there was little need to burnish this country's image abroad. When the Aichi fair was announced in 2000, the United States government did not sign on. But a private group — formed at the behest of Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, the honorary chairman of his family's Toyota Motor Corporation and now chairman of the Aichi fair — was formed to make sure there would be a American pavilion. Full article: http://www.fredbernstein.com/articles/display.asp?id=76

The New York Times November 5, 2004:

U.S. Rejoins World's Fairs...With a little help from its sponsors

By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

SINCE the end of the cold war, the United States has given world's fairs the cold shoulder. In 1992, when Spain marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage with a huge fair in Seville, the State Department erected a tentlike structure that it had in storage. In 2000, the U.S. sat out the Hannover, Germany, exposition, which 181 countries attended.

Now the United States wants back in the game. But because Congress banned federal financing of world's fairs in 1999, major corporations will be picking up the tab for the American pavilion at the first major expo of the 21st century, which opens next March in Aichi, Japan. Thom Filicia — the wisecracking interior designer on the hit TV show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" — will design the pavilion's V.I.P. suite, where sponsors like General Motors, ExxonMobil and DuPont will woo Japanese clients.

"The U.S. is a product I believe in," said Mr. Filicia in his NoHo studio. And with America's image suffering abroad, he added, "We could use a world's fair every month."

...Most of the fair's expected 15 million visitors won't see Mr. Filicia's (V.I.P. suite) handiwork.
Historically fairs provided architects a chance to experiment with materials and forms. Some structures, though intended to be temporary, have stood the test of time: the Eiffel Tower was created for the 1889 Paris Exposition; at the Montreal Expo in 1967, R. Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome wowed visitors to the American pavilion; the Space Needle in Seattle, a relic of the 1962 World's Fair, has become a landmark. In Hannover four years ago, architects including Peter Zumthor of Switzerland and Shigeru Ban of Japan created striking evocations of their countries.

Alfred Heller, the author of a 1999 book about world's fairs, called America's no-show in Hannover an embarrassment. Mr. Heller says that the government's ambivalence about world's fairs reflects a feeling that after the fall of the Soviet Union there was little need to burnish this country's image abroad.

When the Aichi fair was announced in 2000, the United States government did not sign on. But a private group — formed at the behest of Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, the honorary chairman of his family's Toyota Motor Corporation and now chairman of the Aichi fair — was formed to make sure there would be a American pavilion.

Full article:

http://www.fredbernstein.com/articles/display.asp?id=76

Post #124207 by woofmutt on Mon, Nov 8, 2004 9:59 AM