The 1893 World’s Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair

A World’s Fair is an “[I]nternational exposition that features exhibits dealing with commerce, industry, and science.” (World Book Encyclopedia 412) Entertainment is also present along with cultural activities. In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, although inaugurated a year late, commemorated the discovery of America. I feel that the Exposition displayed some of the more beautiful architecture of its time; its immense buildings and sculptures drew heavily from Greek and other classical styles, and it could possible be because of the sweeping popularity in Beaux Arts architecture.

The Peristyle, one of the buildings that was constructed for the Fair, was designed by Charles B. Atwood. It was an ‘arcade of columns originally proposed by Augustus Saint Gaudens, the consultant on sculpture.” (Burg 79) The Perisytle was a beautiful building that followed in the traditional Greek pathway. It “was a series of forty-eight Corinthian columns, one for each of the American States and Territories, with an immense triumphal arch at the center. J The Peristyle itself was 500’ high, its top being a broad promenade populated by 85 allegorical figures in heroic scale.” (Burg 119) The Greeks used Peristyles in their architecture. A Peristyle was placed around the Greek Parthenon. Corinthian columns were created in the Hellenic era, but they had to wait until the Hellenistic era to reach their full development. J “They are distinguished by their ornate capitals with double rows of acanthus leaves and fernlike fonds rising from each corner and terminating in miniature volutes.” (Fleming 32)

The largest structure at the fair was the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. It housed many...

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...ssive of the greatest eras of human history.” (Burg 175) It’s a shame that after all the work, and all of the visitors, and all the critics’ reviews, in the end the buildings have to be torn down!

Bibliography

No author cited. “World’s Fair.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1896 ed.

Hunt, William Dudley Jr. “Beaux Arts, Ecole Des.” Hunt Encyclopedia of American Architecture, 1980 ed.

Books

Burg, David F. Chicago’s White City of 1893. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1976.

No author cited. The Columbian World’s Fair Atlas. Ohio: W.F. Towns 1891.

Fleming, William. Arts and Ideas. 8th ed. Florida: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Incorporated, 1991.

No author cited. The American Heritage Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985.

Newspaper

No author cited. “A City of White Elephants.” New York Times 18 Sept. 1893, natl.ed.,8.