|
DETROIT -- a seemingly suspended
building with a 10-story entrance canopy of soaring metal spars
will house the General Motors global Futurama exhibit at the
New York World's Fair of 1964-1965.
Frederic G. Donner, GM Chairman,
said that General Motors hopes its 230,000-square-foot Futurama
Building will add beauty and significance to the skyline of the
Fair.
The building was designed to express
the message of Futurama: the faith of General motors -- as a
corporation doing business throughout the free world -- that
mankind can make great future strides in every area of the globe
if it exercises its full potential.
It will also extend an architectural
invitation to Fair visitors to visit GM's ride into the world
of tomorrow and multitude of other displays and products included
in the seven acre General Motors exhibit.
Mr. Donner said that the GM World's
Fair exhibit -- including design of its building -- "will
represent the work of General motors people." H revealed
that a task force of designers and show specialists headed by
William L. Mitchell, GM Vice President in charge of Styling Staff,
has been developing GM's World's Fair exhibit and building since
1960.
The General Motors executive in over-all
charge of the planning, construction and operation of the GM
World's Fair exhibit is Kenneth E. Staley, Vice President in
charge of Distribution Staff.
The Futurama Building will be white
and refreshing in the over-all panorama of the World's Fair.
Despite its capacity to entertain tens of thousands of people,
it will achieve through a combination of sculptured forms the
illusion of being suspended above its landscaped site.
Behind the entrance canopy, the main
portion of the building -- which will house the Futurama ride
and many other futuristic and scientific exhibits -- will be
long and sweeping. it will terminate in a dramatic, domed pavilion
which will house current General Motors cars and other products.
During its construction and after
the Fair opens, the General Motors Futurama Building will become
especially familiar to thousands of motorists each day. With
its entrance canopy facing northwest toward the center of the
Transportation Section of the Fair, the Futurama Building will
extend parallel to the south side of the Grand Central parkway.
Its product pavilion will be at the interchange between the Grand
Central Parkway and the Long island Expressway.
The domed pavilion of the Futurama
Building will become a special landmark to passing motorists
an to airline passengers flying over the site as well as to visitors
on the Fair grounds. Revolving above its roof will be an eight-story
sculptured indicator which will flash the time and temperature
in large illuminated numerals.
The broad base of the canopy -- 236
feet wide -- will hover above a reflecting pool lying across
the entrance of the building. The 39 slim metal spars comprising
the canopy will rise to a height of 110 feet and will be visible
for many miles.
A visitor approaching the building
will move under the high protective tip of the canopy as he crosses
the promenade over the pool. The canopy will sweep down to greet
him at the entrance.
Once inside, he will discover that
the building's exterior shape has disguised an immense amount
of space. Slightly narrower than its canopy, the building will
measure 200 feet in width and 680 feet in length. Its 44 foot
high roofline will be deceptive because the building's total
depth of 68 feet will extend down into the site itself.
The domed product pavilion into which
the main portion flows will be 250 feet in diameter and 70 feet
high. The time-temperature indicator will be 24 feet above the
dome and 40 feet in diameter. The grade of the site will slope
down as it reaches the pavilion, enhancing its illusion of floating.
Surrounding it will be outdoor displays of heavy equipment produced
by General Motors including trucks, busses, locomotives and earth
moving equipment.
The Futurama Building itself will
occupy nearly three acres of the 8 1/2 acre GM site. Surrounding
it will be more than five acres of trees, grass, rock gardens
and reflecting pools.
As well as creating an expressive
and inviting architectural image, GM's designers have attempted
to create in the Futurama Building the most functional exhibit
structure ever devised.
The designers have kept in mind the
immense popularity of the GM exhibit which entertained nearly
25 million people at the last World's Fair in 1939-1940. Daily
they continue to change and refine their plans to make sure that
the building will accommodate the greatest possible number of
visitors in the utmost of comfort and safety.
One example of this planning is the
Futurama ride. Remembering the long lines of visitors who waited
to take the first Futurama ride, the designers have more than
doubled the capacity of the new ride -- from 28,000 persons per
day in 1939 to 70,000 persons per day in 1964 and 1965.
The GM Styling Staff has been assisted
by many outside technical experts in the design of the Futurama
Building and the over-all exhibit. Among them are Sol King, architect,
and Albert Kahn Associated Architects and Engineers, Inc., both
of Detroit.
Authorities in the humanities and
sciences also have been and are continuing to be consulted in
the design of the Futurama ride and the rest of GM's exhibit
so that everything presented in futuristic portions of the exhibit
will be a definite possibility, not merely a dream.
* * *
|
