La Ronde, Montreal 1967
This map is taken from the Official Souvenir book of Expo '67, sold for one dollar at the fair grounds. This book advertises "three-dimensional maps in color", and depicts the various sections of the fair. Its dimensions are about eight and a half by eleven inches.
La Ronde constituted the easternmost part of the Montreal exposition site, and was devoted primarily to amusement. This section was designed by a team including Joe Baker, an architect, Norman Slater, an industrial designer and light specialist, Francois Dallegret, a special effects designer, and Leonard Levitan. They were given 135 acres of man made land that had been formed as an extension of the Ile Sainte-Hélène. They had only four years to design an amusement center that would be used both during and after the exposition. A small island of granite, rising ten feet above the St. Lawrence River, was actually destroyed so that La Ronde could be created. The granite was blasted away, leaving a perimeter of rock, which was than surrounded by fill. The crater made by the explosion became Dolphin Lake, the body of water towards the north and center of the map.
The main entrance to La Ronde was an Expo Express stop (number 513 on the map), which arrived at the Esplanade, an open area towards the left and center of the map. Expo Express was a monorail set up especially for the fair. From there crowds could either go north to get to the Dolphin pool (511), Aquarium (512), and Pioneerland (524). They could also travel south to Children's World (528) and the Youth Pavilion (529). To reach all the other activities, visitors would go east through the Mall, the narrow strip of land bisecting the map into two sections. In Pioneerland, there was al...
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...s corporation, and it will probably go through many more transformations in the years to come.
Works cited
Author unknown, "The Architect's Expo", Progressive Architecture 1967 June vol.48, p.126-127
Author unknown, "Behind the Scenes at Expo", Architectural and Engineering News 1967 April vol.9, p.108-109
Author unknown, "Lighting La Ronde", Canadian Architect 1968 June vol.13, p.70-76
Danzig, Philip, "A&E News Goes to Expo '67", Architectural and Engineering News 1967 June vol.9, p.24-26
Findling, John E., Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988 New York: Greenwood Press, 1990
Miller, Jerry, "Expo '67: Search for Order", Canadian Architect 1967 May vol.12, p.44-54
Richard, J.M., "Expo 67", Architectural Review 1967 August, whole issue
Rogatnick, Abraham, "Expo 67, The Past Recaptured",Lotus 1968 vol.5, p.12-33
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...
From first impression, Burnham found that Chicago had a murky factorial image lined with a “fantastic stink that lingered in the vicinity of Union Stock yards” (41). The dreadful surface that Chicago was maintaining allowed Burnham to be determined to collaborate and recreate its image. His efforts would also make a reputational comeback for America’s poor representation in the Exposition Universelle (15). One major feature that transformed public opinion of the state was to illuminate the entire fair with clean white buildings that outlined the goodness of the area (252). Eye-catching whiteness contradicted the presumed dirtiness of the town. Making a contradiction from what was assumed of the city would allow the fair to generate a much bigger transformation. The lights also gave the fair a unique, whimsical edge. “The lamps that laced every building and walkway produced the most elaborate demonstration of electric illumination ever attempted”, incorporating new technology in a grand-scale way merely to keep the theme of brightness ongoing throughout each day and night (254). Most importantly, it displayed the town’s potential to become a thriving and respected city. The theme of whiteness interlaced with the neoclassical outline in The World Fair’s de...
Findling, John E. Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions 1851-1988. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
This 11 by 14 inch photogravure of the great Administration Building at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was taken from a set of 25 drawings of the exposition buildings. It was the main focus of the fair, and one of the masterpieces of its architect, Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895). With its fine classical detailing and sweeping scale, this large building was integral to the "White City" concept of the fair. To this day it remains one of the most recognizable landmarks associated with the Columbian Exposition
The World’s Fair of 1893 was set to commemorate the 400th year anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to America. When the top leaders in the US heard about the opportunity of hosting the fair, they quickly showed their interest. The main cities that showed interest were New York,...
David S. Betcone was the head of the Sears Home Construction Division's architectural service. When discussing
The viewbook was compiled by the Architectural Commission for the fair, with the text by Allen D. Albert, an honorary secretary, and forward by Rufus C. Dawes, the president. The book, approximately nine by twelve inches, and consisting of 64 pages of vibrant images of the fair, depicts the major buildings, exhibits and attractions. These images are mostly watercolors, sometimes enhanced photographs or cartoons. Th...
Dyson, Michael E. “Ellison’s landmark turns 50.” Chicago Sun-Times on the Web 19 Feb. 2002. Nov. 2003
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.
The World’s Fair was an amazing event that delighted the city of Chicago. It started on February 24, 1890 when Chicago won the hosting job. Although, to do this, they had to raise an additional $5 million. They did this, but they had only three years to complete the fair. Fairs were very popular at the time and were a symbol of social importance, so Chicago needed to exceed expectations. Their goal was to “Out-Eiffel Eiffel”. By 1891, Chicago had over 40,000 skilled workers employed for construction.
Feinman, Gary & Price, Douglas T. 1997 Images of the Past University of Wisconsin, Madison Mayfield Publishing Company Mountain View California, London, Toronto
The SPHE meeting had a guest speaker Jacob Elias, a structures field engineer who works for Balfour Beatty Construction. He’s working on the Dallas Horse Shoe Project and graduated from UTA with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2013. He talked about his line of work, his duties, responsibilities, and the main steps in constructing the Downtown Dallas remake of IH-35E and IH-30. He also discussed what he learned from his experience as a student as well as a professional in the field. He ended with some major advice for students and future engineers.
Although the Chicago World’s fair of 1893 only lasted 6 months, it had an enormous impact on the city of Chicago, its people, and indeed the entire country. Up until that point in its history, the US had done nothing on the scale of the world’s fair, and was regarded as a country of barbarians and cowboys by much of the world, especially Old Europe. The fair was a perfect way for the US to disprove this. In building the fair, they would be placed in direct competition with France, who had built a magnificent fair only a few years before. If Chicago could at least build a fair on par with the Paris fair, it would prove to the world that the US was a cultural, military and political force to be reckoned with. Because of the fair’s gigantic scale, it became a microcosm of the conflicts and the tenor of the times. In effect, the fair was the turning point between the old Victorian days and the modern era, technologically, culturally, politically, and in the hearts of the people of the US and the world.
...IA 1895 - 1969." The American Institute of Architects N.p. Web. 4 Jun 2011. .
Goldstein, Barbara. “Addition to architect’ house, Los Angeles California, 1979” Domus, no.599 (October 1979): 9