THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS BUILDING “A FAIR TO BEAT ALL FAIRS”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 53, 4 March 1939, Page 5

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS BUILDING “A FAIR TO BEAT ALL FAIRS”

How far the Americans intend to go to make the coming World Fair in New York the greatest ever is told bv Mr. W. R. Running, A.R.1.8.A.. in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr. Running was awarded the Travelling Scholarship of the Board of Architects of New South Wales in 1937, and has visited Britain, Ireland, the Continent, and America. He worked with the architects for the British Pavilion and th e Pavilion for the New Yc r k World Fair. rpO-DAY steam rollers, pneumatic drills, and mechanical concretemixers create a pandemonuim that will on April 30 of this year give way to the incessant chattering, flapping flags, and shrill sales-cries that go to make up an International Exhibition. New York is building “a fair to end all fairs”—a fair so large that it is considered almost impossible tor one man to see it all. The site is an old swamp across the East River from New York’s Manhattan Island, which has been built up and levelled off to form a great flat area, now woven with a network of roads. Trees have been transplanted, flowers laid out to form gardens, and the river widened to create a large oval basin, termed “The Lagoon of Nations.” The plan is dominated by the broad main avenue crossing the river at right-angles and headed at one end by the “Court of Peace”—a monumental square, enclosed by the Federal Government Building and the Foreign Pavilions. The Avenue —carried over the lagoon on bridges—is terminated by the Theme of the Fair, the trylon and perisphere, a colossal ball in which visitors will view from moving platforms a dramatisation of democracy and the community of to-morrow. Smaller avenues radiate from this theme feature, and an innovation is being introduced in that each avenue is being allotted a different colour Thus the pavilions lining the “green” avenue would run through the whole gamut of greens from white to dark green. The appearance of this colour scheme is a matter of speculation: it would seem that to have a row of fascades all tones of a single colour might appear insipid without a complementary colour, although the rainbow effect of the whole from the air should be effective. A comparison of the site with those of the Paris Exposition and the Empire Exhibition at Glasgow is interesting. The City of Paris is extremely fortunate in its spacious layout—in being able to accommodate at the very heart of the metropolis a huge international exposition. Both banks of the river Seine, for several miles, were turned over from parks to fair grounds, with pavilions descending to the water’s edge, and river craft provided a delightful moving panorama to lend interest to the scene. One entered the Exposition between the new Trocadero Building and moved on to a broad terrace a considerable height above the general level, which commanded a magnificent view of the whole grounds, with a beautiful vista down the main avenue spanning over the river, and strolled by the spectacular Eiffel Tower, the views from the top of which were really excellent. The descent from the terrace to the general level was made by monumental staircases, between which a battery of firehoses gushed water to form a ■wonderful spectacle. This use of varying levels was very cleverly handled, and the grand scale planning of the whole —always an inherent French characteristic since the grandiose days of Versailles—were the triumphs of that great exposition.

At Glasgow, the site was on the out. ' skirts of that city, in Bellahouston I Park, a beautifully treed ground, with I a hill in one corner. This hill was i planned as. a place of rest and quiet, a I haven to which one could escape from I the madding crowd, with elevated | veiws over the grounds, and a fine 1 panorama from its culminating point, ! the Tower of Empire. This informal I treatment of the higher levels was a stroke of genius. Few architects could ! have seen past the more ordinary alteri native of turning the whole hill into a ; monumental focal point. The New York Fair, by contrast, with its perfectly level site, loses the j advantages of varying levels from which , one can gain an appreciation of the planning and landscaping. On the other hand, the American scheme is I very constructive in that a useless area i has been made into a park for use I when the Fair is over. ; Nearly all the great Powers are re- ' presented in this Fair, a notable excep- ' tion being Germany, who has withi drawn for financial reasons. . Great Britain is building a larger ; pavilion to house its national “show- | case” than at any other foreign ex- ! hibition before, and it promises to be | one of the best. Planned in two distinct units, it consists of a “Hall of Majesty” and a “Hall of Achievement.” The main entrance is into the “Hall of 1 Majesty,” and off this open the colonial ; exhibits, including that by Australia. It houses a display of heraldry, replicas of the Crown jewels, and silverware of I past and present. The “Hall of Achievement" is connected by an overhead ! bridge, and will reflect proud British : achievements on land and sea and in the air, besides housing a display of 1 social, industrial, and economical devei lopment. An original copy of the Magna Charta, lent for the occasion by the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral, will provide the highlight in the very spacious “Chamber of Democracy,” which has been treated in a modernised Norman style to inspire the atmosphere of the signing at Runnymede. A small cinema for domumentary films will be featured, and a restaurant to be catered by the famous London firm of J. J. Lyons and Co., serving English fare in I a garden on the English plan. A bandstand will overlook a broad ter--1 race, where music will be provided by I the Grenadier Guards, or one of the • other famous military bands. The cul- [ minating point of the whole display is I a colossal statue of Britannia, by the ■ sculptor. Maurice Lambert, depicting ■ the bonds of peace and friendship between Great Britain and America. The Pavilion of Eire is planned very ‘ remarkably on that Irish symbol, the ' shamrock. The “stalk” portion accom- : modates a hall in which the history of j Eire is depicted in huge murals, while j the “leaves.” which are two-storied, 1 provide bays to house the national exhibits. A showman in America was very anxious to borrow the Blarney Stone from the castle near Cork, which he intended to commercialise by charging | a dollar a kiss, but the owner refused | the request! If this fair is not a success it will not be the fault of the Americans, as nothing in the matter of publicity has been spared. Even number plates of automobiles carry a “New York World Fair, 1939.” sign, and in this way not only America but quite a lot of the rest of the world has been made fairconscious.