Archinect - News

Another chance at re-envisioning Philip Johnson's “Tent of Tomorrow”

2016-07-06T14:59:00-04:00

The question still holds: What does the future entail for Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilion? Following the 1964-65 World's Fair, the elliptical “Tent of Tomorrow” lived shortly as a concert venue and a roller-skating rink before it eventually slipped into abandonment. But, the aging landmark has another chance at finding a shiny new purpose in the New York State Pavilion Ideas Competition.

Among recent efforts to preserve the landmark, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the People for the Pavilion co-launched the competition asking architects (and non-architects) how the pavilion can be revived into a contemporary public space. Before the winning ideas are revealed in August, the public can vote now for the Fan Favorite until July 15.

As these open idea competitions tend to show all too exhaustingly often, the possibilities are seemingly endless. The 250 submissions include a brewery, a Metro station, a Glass House reference, drone arenas, botanical gardens, and...

Dror envisions second geodesic dome in Montreal's Expo 67 site

2016-04-26T14:24:00-04:00

Originally built as the U.S. Pavilion in the memorable World Expo of 1967, the steel structural frame of Buckminster Fuller's Biosphere remains standing to this day as a sole landmark in Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau. In planning for the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 as well as Montreal's 375th anniversary next April, designer Dror Benshetrit of the New York-based practice Dror came up with the idea for adding, what do you know, a second geodesic dome near the Biosphere.

After touring Montreal's Île Sainte-Hélène with the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Benshetrit thought of a second dome as a way to help reinvigorate the seasonally used Expo 67 site grounds and evidently pay tribute to Fuller's landmark. Compared to the Biosphere, which is 76 meters in diameter and 62 meters high, Dror's proposed dome is a 150-meter-wide aluminum latticed sphere with a planted canopy.

The studio describes that its vegetated cover would act as a natural sound buffer and provide an enchanting public enviro...

Los Angeles envisions the first "decentralized" World's Fair (yes, including Hyperloop)

2015-04-17T19:51:00-04:00

A group of venture capitalists, architects, engineers, and marketing gurus, under the name Los Angeles World's Fair (LAWF), are brewing plans for a two-year fair showing off the technology and culture of the future—including a Hyperloop, “3D-printed gourmet delicacies,” and self-driving cars. Theme: "The Connected City." Right now, they're trying to pull together $100,000 on Indiegogo to support economic and architectural feasibility studies for their plans [...].

Visit (and support if you're so inclined) the initiative's Indiegogo campaign here.

The NY Mets Are Trying to Save the 'Tent of Tomorrow'

2014-07-30T17:17:00-04:00

With change in Queens arriving rapidly, the Mets can preserve a piece of team history—and public good will—by helping to restore a part of the World's Fair from 50 years ago.

"Modern Ruin" documents the rise, fall, and revival efforts of historic New York State Pavilion

2014-02-11T13:34:00-05:00

So continues the battle of saving neglected pavilions from their ultimate fate of destruction. MODERN RUIN: A World's Fair Pavilion by filmmaker and film educator Matthew Silva tells the eventful tale of Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilion in the last 50 years.

The film starts with the pavilion's debut during the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, to its post-fair use in the '60s-'70s as a concert venue and roller-skating rink, followed by its gradual demise since then -- including efforts in recent years for the structure's preservation.

Silva set up a Kickstarter to gain support for post-production of the film's final cut. At this point, the fund already surpassed its initial goal of $10,000 and now has 12 days left to reach its stretch goal of $30,000. The extra money will give Silva access to more archival material on the pavilion and will let him collaborate with other professional filmmakers to improve the film's production quality.

Featuring interviews from nearly two dozen ind...

Editor's Picks #339

2013-10-29T19:07:00-04:00

In the latest edition of the Working out of the Box series Archinect interviewed Steven Fleming an architectural-theorist of cycling... Slightly was inspired "For me, this type of work is more inspirational than the glossy renderings I see that is all too common in architecture work these days! Seriously, bike friendly movement needs to be in the forefront of cities around the world!"...

In the latest edition of the Working out of the Box series Archinect interviewed Steven Fleming an architectural-theorist of cycling.

For those wondering what does that mean, he explains his latest project is an exhibition "inspired by General Motors' Futurama exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair, only instead of whetting everyone’s appetite for owning a car and a house in the suburbs, I want my Utopian vision to open people's eyes to the potential of bikes, if cities were actually built for bikes and other modes weren't allowed to impeded bicycle motion".

Slightly was inspired "For me, this type of work is more inspirational than the glossy renderings I see that is all too common in architecture work these days! Seriously, bike friendly movement needs to be in the forefront of cities around the world!"...

Meanwhile for the latest release of the In Focus feature Archinect talked to Brooklyn-based photographer Jade Doskow. Her "largest and most current body of work involves...

Architectural Remnants Of World's Fairs Passed

2012-11-15T18:58:00-05:00

"Some of the most important architects of the 19th and 20th centuries were commissioned to construct fair pavilions, dazzling, unusual structures incorporating the most cutting-edge materials and engineering prowess possible at the time," Doskow writes in an artist statement. "Among them are McKim, Mead and White, Louis Sullivan, Gustave Eiffel, Le Corbusier, Ando, Mies van der Rohe and the landscaping of Frederick Law Olmsted."