World's Fair Information Manual

FEATURES

The Entrance Towers, five in all, are intended primarily to be classic world's fair structures; brilliant and new in appearance, impressive in size and structure and essentially non-utilitarian, pure decoration. They are intended, by their height, to be landmarks to locate the entrances, and more important, by their appearance to serve the visitor as a striking introduction to the Fair. Each tower is intended to be the primary decoration of its own plaza.

The design selected consists essentially of a space frame structure; A continuous stack of octahedrons formed by the edges of 60 degree - 120 degree rhombus-shaped panels, these panels being all identical, and the sole element of the tower. Each panel will be framed individually and covered on both sides by a "rigidized" sheet metal surface. The "rigidized" metal offers the benefit of a very glossy World's Fair white porcelain enamel surface, while its irregularity breaks up reflected light so that the effect is that of an even, sparkling specular surface.

A significat part of the visual appeal of the tower lies in the startling difference in the appearance of its various sides. Certain views are somewhat more spectacular than others; and consideration has been given to the orientation of the tower on its base to the actual entrances and major traffic areas..

The beauty of the tower is mainly a matter of secondary reflections of light from one panel to another, making the tower for all its crisp geometry, look translucent and weightless.