Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peterson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
International Expositions ◽  
International Exposition ◽  
China And Japan ◽  
And Control

The chapter sets out the rationale for and structure for this inquiry into Asian self-representation at World’s Fairs, or international expositions. Using a case-studies approach, the book will consider how independent Asian nations have sought to shape and control the ways in which they were represented at these events. China and Japan at the San Francisco Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915 are the focus of the first two chapters, followed by Japan in at the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair, and China at Expo ’88 in Brisbane. Other fairs and nations examined in the 100-year span of this inquiry include the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair (the Philippines and Indonesia) and the 2015 Milan International Exposition (Thailand and Korea).

scholarly journals The Time Capsule and the Cut-Up: Negotiating Temporality, Anticipating Catastrophe

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 95-114
Author(s):  
John Beck ◽  
Mark Dorrian
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
Complex Relation ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The Face ◽  
Time Capsule ◽  
And Control

The first feature film made about the design and deployment of the atomic bomb, The Beginning or the End (1947), begins with fake newsreel footage depicting the burial in a time capsule of a copy of the film and a projector to show it on. The scene, with its funereal overtones yet grim optimism that, even in the face of catastrophic destruction, the germ of civilization will endure, recalls the ceremonies surrounding the interment of the Westinghouse time capsule at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Time capsules, this article argues, stand in a complex relation to war and temporality, seeking to at once anticipate and work through the challenge posed to futurity by the threat of global conflict. As a container, the capsule attempts to deliver and control the reception of a legible inventory of the present, yet the principle of selection and the impossibility of predicting how information might be received in the deep future – if it is received at all – threatens this aim. The dilemma faced by time capsule curators is, we argue with reference to William Burroughs’ and Brion Gysin’s so-called cut-up method of writing, one of control. By reading the time capsule through the cut-up, anticipated catastrophe can be seen to be functioning proleptically in the present and already active as a challenge to the capsule as proof against disaster.

Fashion, Dance, and Representing the Filipina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peterson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Beating Heart ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
Public Displays ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
Filipino Culture

The New York World’s Fair of 1964-1965 offered an unprecedented opportunity for smaller Asian nations to reach an audience of 54 million American in the world’s most dynamic city. The country pavilion of America’s former colony, the Philippines, occupied a commanding position near the iconic ‘Unisphere,’ the fair’s symbol, with a structure that echoed tradition while proclaiming modernity. The beating heart of the pavilion were its many guides hailing from the country’s ‘best families’ who presented regular dance programs. The so-called ‘Philippines Cultural Invasion of New York’ on the occasion of Philippine Week in June 1964 generated an explosion of Filipino culture into midtown Manhattan, chiefly through folk dance and spectacular public displays of neo-ethnic and contemporary fusion fashion.

scholarly journals Let There Be a Firmament in the Midst of the Waters

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-136
Author(s):  
Brock Winstead
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Design History ◽  
International Exposition ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Treasure Island

Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay was created to host the Golden Gate International Exposition, a World’s Fair, in 1939-40. The fair was an expression of an idealized order of both design and international relations. Neither survived much longer than the fair itself. The author considers the creation and re-creation of Treasure Island and the problem of building for an uncertain, ultimately unknowable future. This article is a critical appreciation of Andrew Shanken’s Into the Void Pacific, a design history of the fair.

Representing Korean architecture in the modern West: two Korean Pavilions from 1960s international expositions

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-170
Author(s):  
Hyon-Sob Kim
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
High Tech ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Inflection Points ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
International Expositions ◽  
Design Competition ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Korean Architecture

The Korean Pavilions for the 1964 New York World's Fair and the 1967 Montreal International Exposition were designed by Chung-Up Kim (1922-88) and Swoo-Geun Kim (1931-86) respectively, two pioneers of modern architecture in Korea. Both pavilions’ designs raise a widespread architectural question about the modern representation of tradition. In contrast to earlier pavilions in Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900) that replicated poorly supposedly ‘authentic’ Korean architecture, these 1960s entries modernised traditional architecture from their architect's creative viewpoint. While Chung-Up Kim noted the formal qualities of the Korean sloped roof, especially its curvilinearity, Swoo-Geun Kim emphasised the traditional timber structure underneath the roof, exaggerating its horizontal layers. In other words, the former's pavilion was more expressive and sculptural, which reflected the architect's Corbusian and even Aaltoesque tendencies. Conversely, the latter pavilion was more logical and systematic. However, Swoo-Geun Kim's interpretation of tradition was also ultimately about the form, though he soon became more interested in space. With regard to the form, the two Kims shared the fundamental idea that the past must not be imitated as it was, but re-created in a modern sense. This underlying argument is reflected in the contemporary ‘debate on tradition’ ignited by the design competition for the National Museum of Korea in 1966. It also relates to to the ‘Japanese-Style Scandal’ of 1967 in which Swoo-Geun Kim suffered for his design of the Buyeo National Museum, 1965-68, due to the inclusion of Japanese nuances in the design of the Montreal Pavilion. Swoo-Geun Kim's later high-tech style pavilion for the 1970 Osaka Expo, alongside recent projects by Minsuk Cho in Yeosu (2010) and Venice (2014) has more recently suggested alternative ways to represent Korea in architecture. Therefore, these two pavilions from the 1960s can be understood as unique inflection points in Korean architectural history.

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