Sunsphere Photo Copyright Violation

Interesting. While doing a search online to answer a question for someone, I ran across this item on eBay. The photo seemed VERY familiar. After doing some comparing, it looks like the creator indeed stole a photo I took of the Sunsphere in 2007 when I was there for the 25th anniversary.





Ironically, the convention center indicated in the photo did not exist until about 20 years after the exposition.

Compare:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COVERSCAPE-computer-generated-1982-Worlds-Fair-Set-FDC-/250306617888
and
www.flickr.com/photos/expomuseum/784769080/

The World's Fair Podcast, Episode 9: World's Fair Legacy Sites with Jason Griffing

In Episode 9 of The World's Fair Podcast, hosts Urso Chappell and John McGregor talk with Jason Griffing about the former sites of world's fairs as well as memorabilia collecting.

Listen to this podcast.

Subscribe to this podcast.

You can leave feedback to the podcast by calling +1-650-ASK-EXPO

The World's Fair Podcast, Episode 0

I'm pleased to announce that Episode 0 of The World's Fair Podcast is now live.

In Episode 0, John McGregor of Foundation Expo 88 and I discuss world's fairs in general, the nomenclature, and the how world's fairs are still relevant.

The audio isn't that great yet (which is why this is episode "zero"), but subsequent episodes should sound much better.

To subscribe via iTunes, got to:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=346502335

Alternatively, you can listen to the episode through your web browser at:
http://www.WorldsFairPodcast.com/

I'd love to hear what people think. Please let me know what you'd like to hear in the future. In future episodes, we'll be interviewing both fans and professionals involved in expos in the past and future.

Exhibits About Future Expos

A conversation over on WorldsFairCommunity.org made me think about exhibits about future expos at an existing expo.

I remember seeing an exhibit about Expo 85 near the exit of the Japan Pavilion at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. As a high school student, I so wished I could afford the $1985.00 for their cheapest travel package. I believe they also had an ad in the guidebook, something I've seen in other guidebooks.

At the 1984 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Canada devoted a lot of space to Expo 86. I remember getting my first Expo 86 souvenir pins there in New Orleans.

The Germany Pavilion at Expo 98 in Lisbon had a huge section about Expo 2000 including a motion simulator ride where you went underwater in Lisbon and then surfaced and flew over the Expo 2000 site in Hannover.



Even though China hadn't won Expo 2010 yet, the China Pavilion at Expo 2000 promoted its bid for Shanghai. 2010 seems so far in the future back then.



Not surprisingly, the China Pavilion at Expo 2005 devoted a lot of space to promoting Expo 2010. They also showed a large film in their pavilion at Expo 2008.

At that same expo, next door the Korean Pavilion promoted its bid for Expo 2012, which it would end up winning.



Korea promoted Expo 2012 at Expo 2008 with an exhibit and a host that described the plans to guests. She actually spent a lot of time talking to me (in English) about the history of expos. Italy also promoted Expo 2015 at their Expo 2008 pavilion.

Another side topic to this would be Olympics being promoted in pavilions.



In these photos, Paris promoted their 1992 Olympic bid at Expo 86 and Italy promoted the 2008 Winter Olympics in Torino.

Anyone else remember any others?

The Lure of Towers at World's Fairs

In my early days as a student of world's fairs, I was fascinated by the towers created at world's fairs. As a child, tall structures really have a greater power than perhaps they do as an adult. In architecture school, an interest in skyscrapers over more "artsy" buildings is looked down upon by many professors.

In the most recent expos, there haven't been as much a reliance on tall towers as a draw, but I think they were disfavored in more recent decades as being distractions from the more serious nature of world's fairs and can take away from the theme's goals.

I think they still have a power outside their own physical existence. 1889's Eiffel Tower, 1962's Space Needle, and even 1982's Sunsphere have a draw. San Antonio's Tower of the Americas from Hemisfair '68 just reopened with great fanfare.

I think the towers can provide a certain level of initial excitement about an exposition. It acts as an exclamation point to send the message that what's going on underneath is important.

For that reason, I was happy to hear that Expo 2010 will have a tower. Theirs will have, if you'll pardon the expression, a twist. They're using an existing chimney on the site to create an observation tower. To get to the top, visitors will ride roller-coaster-style cars.



By reusing the tower, they can illustrate the benefits of reusing existing structures instead of tearing them down to rebuild, thus fitting with the environmental aspects of the "Better City, Better Life" theme.

I know I can't wait to go up it in two years. I just wonder what the ride back down will be like!

The Expo '67 Site: 40 Years Later

I love visiting the sites of former world's fairs and finding little artifacts here and there.

There aren't many like me that could get excited at finding evidence of the foundation for the Australian Pavilion at site of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, but I know I'm not alone.

This wonderful collection of photos documents the same views of Montreal's Expo '67 site in 1967 and 2007.

Small Moments - Expo 98 Philippines Pavilion

We usually think of world's fairs as collections of large grandiose events, but talking with colleagues recently, I found myself reminiscing about some of the smaller, impromptu interactions I've had at various pavilions.

I've discovered, when visiting world's fairs in countries where the primary language isn't English, that English speakers get noticed, particularly since many pavilion hosts are perhaps more familiar with English than they are with the local language.

I suspect this was the case when we visited the Philippines Pavilion at Expo 98 in Lisbon, Portugal. Waiting to enter, a staff member approached us asking where we were from. I replied "San Francisco," knowing that I usually get a very positive response. Everyone loves San Francisco, after all.

Her eyes lit up and she responded that she'd "always wanted to visit... Daly City!" This was the first time I've ever gotten this particular reaction, but understandable since Daly City is known for it's large Filipino population.

Daly City is one of the few communities in the United States with a population mostly of Asian descent, but most San Franciscans think of it as an inner suburb with lots of free parking and chain stores.

In many ways, it was a wonderful reminder that living in multi-cultural city like San Francisco can be like living in a world's fair itself.

25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair, Part 2

Traveling to Knoxville last month for the Fair Day festivities on the
Fourth of July, I took a ton of photos of the event, exhibits, and
from the observation deck of the Sunsphere:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expomuseum/sets/72157600773432052/

The 1982 World's Fair was my first world's fair. I was 15 years old and when we went, we didn't have time to go up in the Sunsphere itself. 25 years later, I finally got to go up!

25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair

This Fourth of July found me in Knoxville for celebrations related to the 25th anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair.

The video I shot in my hotel room, so I apologize for the poor quality, but it gives a good overview of the fair in the context of 2007.

It's always great to be back in Knoxville. My interest in international expositions started here when I was 15 years old. There are still little bits of the world's fair left here and there, but mostly the old railroad yard that once stood here is a beautiful downtown park.

Tomorrow, the city will open the Sunsphere to the public for the first time in years. I hope to get some video or still photos of that. Also, the East Tennessee Historial Society has an exhibit about the 1982 World's Fair. They were closed today, but I plan on visiting tomorrow.

Expo 2012 Wroclaw Video

The folks in Wroclaw, Poland bidding for Expo 2012 have updated their web site and added this amazing video. A larger size with better resolution is available on their site here.

A Wroclaw world's fair would certainly be the first to feature a Hall of Serious Fun. It makes me wonder what 19th Century world's fair designers would think of us in 2007 as they designed their Halls of Agriculture and the like. I, for one, am ready for a Hall of Serious Fun. In many ways, that's what I like about world's fairs. They're serious fun!

The Hall of Tranquility reminds me much of a trend I've seen in recent years in exposition design. World's fairs can become one building of overstimulation after another. Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany featured a chill-out space called Scape, which was a welcome respite from the rest of the pavilions. I noticed that same year that Austria and India both included areas where you could relax and escape lights and sounds. I hope to see this trend continue.

Wroclaw is competing against Yeosu, South Korea and Tangier, Morocco to host a small 3-month exposition in 2012. So far, I've been impressed with all three presentations, although the new Wroclaw video presentation doesn't seem to match the bid logo that was created earlier.

Burnie?

After having recently done a study of world's fair mascots, I'd come to the conclusion that the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition's Seymour D. Fair was the first official mascot, but that Knoxville's 1982 World's Fair had unofficial mascots (whose names I have been unable to find).

Imagine my surprise when I saw this Flickr.com photo of "Burnie." Does anyone have any information about him or the unofficial characters that were in the parade?

The 1982 World's Fair

One of the reasons I've created this blog separate from the main ExpoMuseum web site was so that I could talk about my personal experiences at the six world's fairs I've been to so far.

My first world's fair was the 1982 World's Fair, the Knoxville International Energy Exposition. This month parks the 25th anniversary of its opening and there's been some media attention in Knoxville surrounding the anniversary.

I was 15 years old and living in suburban Atlanta, just about a 3-hour drive from the site. Unfortunately, I only got to see it for a day and a half, but from that point, I knew I was hooked and I saw the potential for a world's fair: a truly experimental city-within-a-city to try out new forms of architecture, design, communication, and just plain fun.