An Ode for the Inauguration of the American Crystal Palace:
The nations meet, not in war, but in peace, beneath this dome. They meet to bring glory to God on high and goodwill to men. The Crystal Palace is a symbol of the might of Man. Look on, ye Nations, and vow eternal peace and justice.
-William R. Wallace
(New York Times, July 14, 1853)
When the first major international exhibition of arts and industries was held in London in 1851, the London Crystal Palace epitomized the achievements of the entire world at a time when progress was racing forward at a speed never before known to mankind. The Great Exhibition marked the beginning of a tradition of world's fairs, which would be held in major cities all across the globe. Following the success of the London fair, it was inevitable that other nations would soon try their hand at organizing their own exhibitions. In fact, the next international fair was held only two years later, in 1853, in New York City. This fair would have its own Crystal Palace to symbolize not only the achievements of the world, but also the nationalistic pride of a relatively young nation and all that she stood for. Walt Whitman, the great American poet, wrote in "The Song of the Exposition":
... a Palace,
Lofter, fairer, ampler than any yet,
Earth's modern wonder, History's Seven out stripping,
High rising tier on tier, with glass and iron facades,
Gladdening the sun and sky - enhued in the cheerfulest hues,
Bronze, lilac, robin's-egg, marine and crimson
Over whose golden roof shall flaunt, beneath thy banner, Freedom.
The plan for an American Crystal Palace originated with Edward Riddle, a Boston auctioneer and carriage-maker. He assembled a group of New York bankers who had either visited or heard marvelous stories about the London exhibition and were more than willing to invest in a similar project in the United States. Riddle tried but failed to interest the famed entrepreneur, P.T. Barnum, in the project. The group of investors soon petitioned the Board of Aldermen in New York City for use of Madison Square, located in lower Manhattan where Broadway and Fifth Avenue meet at 23rd Street, to build a "house of iron and steel for an Industrial Exhibition.
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 changed America in enormous ways. Probably the most prominent being that it directly changed America's and the world's perception of America and our capabilities. Not only was it the first in America, but the Chicago World's Fair propelled America...
The World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was an event celebrating American invention and innovation on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America. The fair was open for six months and was visited by an estimated 27.5 million people. The Fair was a major influence on the spirt invention associated with the Gilded Age, but it was also influenced by the spirit of the time.
... Hall. Because it was so colorful and exciting, this structure typified the fair, as well as it epitomized Cass Gilbert's talent.
As the 1939 New York World's Fair was divided into many different thematic zones, its planners wanted a central symbol for this event. The original idea was to have a theme center, with twin 250 feet towers and a semicircular hall to display dioramas. Wallace K. Harrison, a prominent New York architect of the Harrison Fouilhoux firm, was selected to design the theme center in November 1936. Harrison wanted a design that would represent a new architecture concept. In his own words, "we found ourselves constantly referring to the domes and campaniles of Venice, perhaps because the flat country and water of the Fair grounds are very like that of the site of Venice and in addition the sky color of New York is practically the same." (Newhouse,82) The idea of a large dome was a starting point for all further designs, and many different ideas were initially developed. There were plans to use a sphere that was suspended by steel cables, giving it a light, airy feel as well as a large balloon, anchored by steel cables and accessible by elevator. A spherical design was not a new idea, however. An earlier example of such a design was proposed by Etienne-Louis Boullée in his project for Newton's Cenotaph in 1783, featuring a huge sphere at the center. In the end a design that featured a sphere 200 feet in diameter raised on pillars was selected. Despite its huge dimensions, with a 200-foot diameter, it was hard to grasp the exact scale of the sphere. Harrison and his design team finally came up with the idea of using a tall spike to frame the sphere, but there was still the problem of placing the two in relation with each other. They found inspiration from drawings by a Soviet constructivist architect named Jacob Tchernikhov, which represented two large spheres connected to a tall spike by way of a ramp.
The largest structure at the fair was the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. It housed many...
Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island. His early years included much contact with words and writing; he worked as an office boy as a pre-teen, then later as a printer, journalist, and, briefly, a teacher, returning eventually to his first love and life’s work—writing. Despite the lack of extensive formal education, Whitman experienced literature, "reading voraciously from the literary classics and the Bible, and was deeply influenced by Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, and Sir Walter Scott" (Introduction vii).
Soon after the fire, legislature decided to tear down the remains of the damaged structure and replace it with a larger and more stylish design. Chicago architect, Henry Ives Cobb, was selected to design and build the second capitol. The government gave him a budget of only $550,000, which was not nearly enough to reproduce the size and design that the legislature had envisioned. Due to limited funds, Cobb was unable to finish his intended design. Legislature was embarrassed and unimpres...
One story describes the planning of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair that had been proposed to celebrate the four hundred years since Columbus landed in America. The idea didn’t get much attention until a year earlier, when Paris held a world fair and unveiled the Eiffel Tower. Not to be outdone, America decided now it was a matter of who would hold a fair that would put France’s fair to shame. There was a dilemma of where the fair would be built New York or Chicago, but votes were tallied up and the majority of the vote was Chicago. Among the many architects in Chicago, the main job of the designing the fair was given to Daniel H. Burnham. He needed a companion to help him with the design and other features of the fair, so he chose John Root, a very close friend of his and former associate. Because of the amount of time it took to decide where to build the fair, The White City was believed to be impossible to construct because of time con...
The Broadway Fountain located in Madison, Indiana is a famous artistic structure that is well known for its historical background and current use as an ideal location of weddings and other gatherings. In the course of a little over a century, the fountain has been in danger of being completely discarded twice and has been replaced with an exact bronze replica. Designed by French sculptor J. P. Victor Andre, the original Broadway Fountain was presented to the city of Madison in 1886 after being featured in the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (National Park Service).
"Five hundred dollars will be the reward for the architect who sets forth the plans for our nations new capitol building." Thomas Jefferson stated. He was also included in the long list of contestants who submitted thier construction designs. Three months after the contest ended, a man by the name of Dr .William Thorton submitted his designs of the capital. (Prolman, 5)
Slowly but surely Jefferson finished a small brick building, which was the south pavilion, in 1770. Later the north pavilion was finished and served as a study for his son-in-law.
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, serves as the meeting place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Old Palace was a medieval building that was destroyed by fire in 1834. After the fire, a competition was held for architects to submit plans for the new building that should be in a Gothic or Elizabethan style hoping to embody the conservative values of England. A Royal commission chose Charles Barry’s designs for a Perpendicular Gothic palace. Barry’s own style was more classical than Gothic, which is why Augustus Pugin’s involvement was so crucial in Barry winning the competition.
This black and white postcard represents the primary entrance of the Grand Palais, which was established at the expense of the Palais de l'Industrie that had been erected for the 1855 Exposition. Architect Eugene Hénard (1849-1923) proposed the destruction of the Palais De l'Industrie. In 1894, Hénard received one of three first prizes (others were granted to Charles Girault and Edmond J.B. Paulin) in the competition for the general plan of the Exposition. The final layout of the fair incorporated his suggestion of cutting a new street from the Champs-Elysées through the Palais de l'Industrie which would cross the Seine River on a new bridge and then terminate at the Invalides (Wolf, 29). Although some Frenchmen opposed the destruction of the Palais de I'lndustrie, which was seen as one of the most conspicuous landmarks on the Champs Elysées and served as a museum at the time, many agreed it was obsolete. According to Richard Morris Hunt, a prestigious American architect, "from the very day it began to rise above the ground the critics cried against the...
The Royal Pavilion The Royal Pavilion was a very fashionable building in it's day. The architecture was quite fashionable as it used the idillic style which was fashionable and the farmhouse idea was fashionable, however the Indian style the Royal Pavilion used was unfashionable. On the outside of the Pavilion the Prince also used the neo-classical style which was fashionable back then. Trompe l'oeil was a fashionable interior design which the Prince used. However the Prince did use chinoiserie which was unpopular then but was popular 50-60 years before the Prince used it.