Evolution

Evolution of Unisphere as Theme Center

Inception, 1960

The concept had called for Unisphere to rotate on its base but that scheme was deemed impractical. By the time the Fair's symbol was announced, water jets obscured the base so that Unisphere would appear to "float" above its reflecting pool. The Equator and Tropic rings were obviously larger than the other latitudes. Lights whirled about the orbitals.

Refined, 1961

By 1961 the design had been modified to one much closer to the armillary sphere that was eventually constructed. A tripod base supports the structure in a large, circular pool and fountains placed away from the base rise and fall in a circular pattern suggesting movement. Special lighting effects also suggest movement.

Clarke & Rapuano's concept of the Main Mall

Clarke and Rapuano's gorgeous concept artwork appeared in 1962. Looking up the Fair's Main Mall from the Court of the Astronauts to Unisphere, this artwork is the closest concept of what the Main Mall and Unisphere would eventually look like when the Fair opened in 1964. The Clarke and Rapuano artwork served as the basis for the Postal Department's commemorative stamp issue for the Fair.

Evolution of the Fair's Logo

The New York World's Fair logo changed as the design of Unisphere was refined. Prior to Unisphere being selected as the Theme Center, the Fair utilized an orbiting earth and "Big Dipper" logo to represent "Man's Achievements in an Expanding Universe," one of the oft-repeated themes of the Fair. After Unisphere was announced as Theme Center the logo, used between 1961 and late 1962, reflected the design of the symbol as conceived; Unisphere appears with no base and actual satellites orbit it. The final logo depicted a stylized Unisphere as it would appear at the Fair, complete with a base and simple orbit rings.

Logo, c. 1960

Logo, c. 1961-1962

Logo, c. 1963-1972

Evolution of Pavilion Designs

More than 160 fabulous structures rose from the grounds of Flushing Meadow Park between 1962 and 1964. The pavilions that hosted millions of visitors at the Fair were often not the same structures that had been originally conceived. Budget cutbacks, impracticalities and relocation to other sites on the Fairgrounds resulted in numerous changes. Some pavilions were dramatically different from the architect's original conception.

Panama - Panama and Central America

Proposed Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 4
January 17, 1962

Final Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 9
September 26, 1963

Federal Pavilion

The New York World's Fair Corporation had hoped that the Federal Government would construct a major science pavilion for the Fair. To be called the Franklin National Center of Science and Education, the huge circular domed building would have occupied all of Kennedy Circle. The eventual design was called the "square doughnut."

Proposed Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 7
April 22, 1963

Final Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 9
September 26, 1963

Gas Companies

The original design of the Gas Companies Pavilion called for glass curtains to extend from the top of the parasol to the second level. Economics predicated that this be changed to air curtains.

Proposed Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 8
April 22, 1963

Final Design

Source: Commercial Transparency by Photo Lab, Inc.,
Washington, DC

Liebmann Breweries - Rheingold Beer

The original design of the Rheingold Pavilion, by architects Kahn and Jacobs, featured a 60-foot-high beer garden atop concrete stilts and platforms supported by cantilevered aluminum trusses. A glass-walled elevator took visitors from the ground level to the platforms of the $2 million structure. They "Gay-nineties" street scene that was constructed was, perhaps, a bit more inviting.

Proposed Design

SOURCE: Unknown, contribution of John Loughead

Final Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 8
April 22, 1963

Westinghouse

Corporate design pioneer Eliot Noyes championed the integration of architecture, branding, and graphic design. Beginning in 1960, he was retained by Westinghouse to remake their corporate identity, and this model shows the first iteration of the company's pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair.

The building is designed to contain eight major exhibits, each contained in a globe forty-five feet in diameter. The eight spheres surround a central lobby, and moving sidewalks carry the viewer from one exhibit to another. For reasons of economy, this scheme was not built.

Proposed Design

Final Design

SOURCE: NY World's Fair Progress Report No. 8
April 22, 1963