A World's Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid-19th century. The official sanctioning body is the Bureau of International Expositions (usually abbreviated BIE, from the organization's name in French, Bureau International des Expositions). BIE-approved fairs are divided into a number of types: universal, and international or specialized. They usually last for between 3 and 6 months. In addition, countries can hold their own 'fair', 'exposition', or 'exhibition', without BIE endorsement.
Unisphere From The 1964 World's Fair in NYC a few years after the fair had ended.
Universal Expositions encompass universal themes that affect the full gamut of human experience, usually at a unique period of time for humankind.
These Universal Expos usually have themes based on which pavilions are made to represent the country's opinion on that theme. The theme for the Expo at Lisbon (1998) was "water" and the theme for the 2005 Expo in Japan was "nature's wisdom".
Universal expositions are usually held less frequently than specialized or international expositions because they are more expensive. To distinguish them from lesser fairs, they require total design of pavilion buildings from the ground up. As a result, nations compete for the most outstanding or memorable structure—recent examples include Japan, France, Morocco & Spain at Expo '92. Recent Universal Expositions include BrusselsExpo '58, SeattleExpo '62, known as the Century 21 Exposition, MontrealExpo '67, San AntonioHemisFair '68, OsakaExpo '70,SpokaneExpo '74, Knoxville, TennesseeExpo '82, New OrleansExpo '84, Vancouver, British ColumbiaExpo '86, BrisbaneExpo '88, SevilleExpo '92, LisbonExpo '98, and HanoverExpo 2000. The Expo 2005 was held at Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Sometimes pre-fabricated structures are also used to minimize costs for developing countries or for countries from a geographical block to share space (i.e. Plaza of the Americas at Seville '92).
BIE has moved to sanction expos only every five years, starting with the 21st century; with the 1980s and 1990s overflowing with expos back to back, some see this as a means to cut down potential expenditure by participating nations.
The rule may apply to all expos, or it may end up that Universal expositions will be restricted to every five years or so, with International or Specialized expositions in the in-between years for countries wishing to celebrate a special event.
Bids for both the Specialized Expo 2012 and the Universal Expo 2015 has begun to be accepted by the BIE:
2012 (so far) Yeosu (Korea) - was candidate city for the Universal Expo 2010,
2015 (so far) Izmir (Turkey) - was host city of the 2005 Summer Universiade.
List of hitherto official world expositions according to the BIE:
The only Universal exposition to be held without BIE approval was the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. Because that Fair did not comply with BIE rules in place at the time, the sanctioning organization denied the Fair an "official" status. The Fair proceeded without BIE approval and turned to tourism and trade organizations to host national pavilions in lieu of official government sponsorship.
International or specialized expositions
International expositions are usually united by a common theme—such as Transportation (VancouverExpo '86) or 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' (BrisbaneExpo '88). Such themes are narrower than the worldwide scope of Universal expositions.
Specialized expositions have a narrow theme, such as the International Garden Expositions, held in Osaka, Japan (1990) and Kunming, China (1999).
Specialized and international expositions are usually smaller in scale and cheaper to run for the host committee and participating nations because the architectural fees are lower and they only have to rent the space from the host committee, usually with the pre-fabricated structure already completed. Some say this leads to better creative content as more money can be spent in this area.
Specialized and international are similar in that the host organization provides the rental space to participating countries, as well as the building itself, which is usually pre-fabricated. Countries then have the option of 'adding' their own colours, design etc. to the outside of the pre-fabricated structure and filling in the inside with their own content. One example of this is China, which invariably has chosen to add a Chinese archway in the front of its pre-fabricated pavilions to symbolize the nation (Expo '88, Expo '92, Expo '93).
After the fair
The majority of the structures are temporary, and are dismantled at the end of the expo. Towers from several of these fairs are notable exceptions. By far the most famous of these is the Eiffel Tower, built for the Exposition Universelle (1889), which is now a symbol of host city Paris. Surprisingly, some contemporary critics wanted the tower dismantled after the fair's conclusion.
Other major structures that were held over from these fairs:
The Crystal Palace, from the first World's Fair in London in 1851, chosen because it could be recycled to recoup losses, was such a success that it was moved and intended to be permanent, only to be destroyed by a fire (of its contents) in 1936.
The main buildings of Expo '98, in Lisbon, were completely integrated in the city itself.
Other outstanding exceptions:
The remains of Expo '29 in Seville where the 'Plaza de España' forms part of a large park and forecourt, and many of the pavilions have become offices for Consulate-Generals.
An elevated railways with metro frequency was built for Milan '06. It linked the fair to the city centre. It was dismantled in the 20's.
The Aquarium of Milano Expo '06 was built for the fair and after 100 years is still open and was recently renovated.
The ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health), was settled in Milan during the Expo '06 and had the first congress in the Expo pavillions. In the next June 2006 the ICOH will celebrate the first century of life in Milan.
The pavilions of Expo '92 in Seville had been reconverted into a technological square and a theme park.
San Antonio kept intact the Tower of the Americas, the Institute of Texan Cultures and the Convention Center from HemisFair '68.
Among the structures still standing from Expo '67 in Montreal are Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67, Buckminster Fuller's American pavilion (now the Biosphère), and the French pavilion (now the Casino de Montréal).
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is housed in the last remaining building of the 1893World's Columbian Exposition, which had been the Palace of Fine Arts. The intent or hope was to make all Columbian structures permanent, but most of the structures burned, possibly the result of arson during the Pullman Strike. The fair's only other known remaining building is the Norway pavilion, a small house located at a museum in Wisconsin.
A particular case is the EUR quarter in Rome, built for a World's Fair planned for 1942, was never used for its intended purpose, because of World War II, and today hosts various offices, governmental or private, and some museums.
Some World's Fair sites became (or reverted to) parks incorporating some of the expo elements, such as:
Disney had originally contributed so many exhibits to the New York fair in part because the corporation had envisioned a "permanent World's Fair" at the Flushing site. That concept instead came to fruition with the Disney theme park Epcot, an extension of the Walt Disney World Resort, near Orlando, Florida. Epcot has many of the characteristics of a typical Universal Exposition: national pavilions, as well as exhibits concerning technology and/or the future, along with more typical amusement-park rides. Meanwhile, several of the 1964 attractions, relocated to Disneyland, have been duplicated at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Occasionally other bits and pieces of the Fairs remain. In the New Yorksubway system signs directing people to Flushing Meadows, Queens remain from the 1964-5 event. In the Montreal subway at least one tile artwork of its theme, "The World of Man" remains. Also, a seemingly endless supply of souvenir items from Fair visits can be found, and in the United States, at least, can often be bought at garage or estate sales. Many of these events also produced postage stamps and commemorative coins. The 1904 Olympic Games were held in conjunction with the St. Louis Fair, although no particular tie-in seems to have been made.
USA membership
The USA had its membership of the BIE withdrawn in 2002. The cause was the non-allocation of funds by the U.S. Congress for two years.
