Plan Pavilion to Show

L.I.'s World at the Fair 

By GROVER RYDER

.....An ambitious plan for Long Island participation in the 1964 New York World's Fair was outlined yesterday by the Long Island Association.

.....Included in the master plan is a Long Island Exhibits Pavilion of futuristic design which would be built at the Flushing Meadow fairground "to serve as a spectacular showcase for commerce, industry, recreational and education facilities in the Long Island area."

 

Artist's sketch shows proposed Long Island exhibits pavilion for World's Fair. It is topped by an observation deck and a map motif of Long Island runs down its side.

 

SOURCE: New York Daily News, August 22, 1960

.....The streamlined structure, designed to meet the requirements of all Long Island participants, would be 150 by 488 feet. It would enclose on two floors a total of 100,000 square feet of exhibit, theatre and special events space.

 

 Plan Monorail Lift

.....The pavilion would be dominated by an observation deck and restaurant, accommodating several hundred people. It would be reached by a monorail lift which would also provide a view of the fair.

.....The proposed plans also call for a rolling sidewalk that would move the audience the length of the building, providing a view of the exhibits and special features below.

.....A preliminary sketch of the pavilion and an outline of the LIA's program for the fair have been approved by Stuart Constable, vice president in charge of operations for the World's Fair Committee.

.....The LIA is presently one of the prime backers of the Long Island Fair to be held this fall in Roosevelt Raceway.

 

Linked With L.I. Fair

.....LIA President Morris Rochman declared that it was significant that all companies under-writing Long Island's preliminary planning for the World's Fair also are closely identified with the improved and expanded Long Island Fair.

....."This relationship," he added, "is not accidental, but part of the long range planning of the LIA. It included the intention to construct our World's Fair facilities so that they may be claimed at the close of the 1964-65 exposition and made part of the continuing Long Island Fair."

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 2,

May 8, 1961

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 2,

May 8, 1961

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 4,

January 17, 1962

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Groundbreaking Brochure for the Pavilion of Argentina, September 11, 1963

The strange case of the Pavilion of Argentina... This pavilion was actually constructed by a private Argentine group to host the exhibit of Argentina. The pavilion was completed but the sponsors of the pavilion could not secure the financing to provide exhibits or staffing. So the pavilion was completed without a tenant!

The World's Fair Corporation assumed control of the structure. In 1964, the building housed an exhibit of contemporary art. In 1965, the building housed the Bargreen Buffet!

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 4,

January 17, 1962

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 4,

January 17, 1962

This 44,000 sq. foot pavilion would have held the exhibits of the states of America's "heartland" ... North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. Neighboring states had been invited to join in the pavilion. Commissioners were appointed from each of the four states and the exhibit was to feature a film with a new type of projection system. The site of the pavilion, across from the Federal Pavilion and adjacent to the New Mexico exhibit, remained vacant during the Fair.

SOURCE: Unknown, contribution of John Loughead

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 5,

May 17, 1962

SOURCE: Unknown, contribution of John Loughead

In a garden of flowers, pools and fountains, an arrangement of four kite-like structures and a central dome would have housed over 1,200 pieces of contemporary art. An exhibition devoted to the history of art in America and live demonstrations of the techniques of various media would occupy the "theme building," the central dome.

The dome would have used an entirely new structural system of prefabricated pieces of perforated aluminum with transparent plastic fillers. Similar auxiliary structures (shown at left) were used in an exhibition in Israel in 1962.

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 5,

May 17, 1962

The fascinating story of The World of Food has been explored in its own Feature at nywf64.com and you are invited to visit it.

Briefly, this multi-exhibitor pavilion occupied a site directly across from the main entrance to the Fair. Ground was broken and the steel skeleton was erected. Financial difficulties for the organizers resulted in major delays in construction. In April, 1964, just weeks before the opening of the Fair, the Fair Corporation ordered the steel dismantled and the site seeded over so that the eyesore would not greet visitors at the Fair's main entrance. Exhibitors who had contracted for space were offered exhibit space in the Better Living Building.

 

SOURCE: Presented courtesy of The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, from the exhibition catalogue "David Reznik: A Retrospective," Curator: Sophia Dekel Caspi, Gallery Curator: Prof. Mordechai Omer

Israel had originally planned to officially participate at the Fair. The Israeli Cabinet had approved funding and architect David Reznik had won the national architectural competition for the design of Israel's pavilion.

According to the Exhibition Catalogue, "David Reznik: A Retrospective," "The pavilion was designed as a truncated fortress, with only a few narrow, horizontal openings; it was three levels high, the movement between levels flowing on a sloping spiral ramp. The corners were rounded to create an elegant silhouette, softening its heavy appearance, and the surface was covered with rough plaster."

The pavilion would have occupied the site that was eventually assumed by the African Pavilion. Israel withdrew from the Fair for budget reasons and decided to concentrate their efforts on an exhibit at Montreal's Expo67. This designed served as the basis of their exhibit for that Fair.

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 5,

May 17, 1962

SOURCE: Unknown, contribution of John Loughead

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 5,

May 17, 1962

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 6,

September 12, 1962

The huge arch, sponsored by the Organization of the American States (O.A.S. - North, Central and South American nations, that is) would have spanned the Avenue of the Americas near the Fair's main entrance.

The Fair Corporation was quite excited about this feature of the Fair. It is shown prominently in many of the Fair's official publications and it also appears on many licensed souvenir products.

The O.A.S. withdrew their participation and, along with them, went the Arch of the Americas.

Owens Corning was also interested in constructing and hosting the arch, hoping for the same sort of arrangement with the Fair Corporation that US Steel enjoyed with their sponsorship of Unisphere. This association never came to pass and the Arch went unconstructed.

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 6,

September 12, 1962

The Pavilion of France would have been one of the largest national pavilions at the Fair. Consisting of three geometric forms, it would have occupied a site behind the Pavilion of Spain, across from the Lunar Fountain.

Ground was broken for the pavilion on February 5, 1963. This was a privately sponsored exhibit since France could not officially participate in the Fair.

No doubt, having a French Pavilion at the Fair was a matter of real pride to a World's Fair being snubbed by the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions. However, construction of the pavilion never took place past the groundbreaking. There eventually was a "French Pavilion" at the Fair. It was closed by the Fair Corporation for not being "French enough!"

The American Indian Exposition has been explored in its own Feature at nywf64.com and you are invited to visit it.

The American Indian Exposition would have occupied a 33,000 sq. foot site in the Lake Area of the Fair and would have been an integrated display of the history, lore, crafts and tribal rites of the American Indians.

The ambitious original design (top) would have featured a ground-floor exhibition area, a terrace platform for outdoor exhibits and refreshments and a theater supported on four immense piers that would have housed steps and mechanical services.

The much scaled-back final design (bottom) would have featured a Native American village. The exhibit was never constructed.

SOURCE: Unknown, contribution of Gary Holmes