World's Fair Universal Expositions International Or Specialized

Of the BIE approved fairs, there are universal, and international or specialized, lasting from 3 to 6 months in duration. In addition, countries can hold their own 'fair', 'exposition', 'exhibition', without BIE endorsement.

1 Universal expositions

Universal Expositions encompass universal themes that affect the full gamut of human experience, usually at a unique period of time for mankind. 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 Brussels Expo '58, Seattle Expo '62 , known as the Century 21 Exposition, Montreal Expo '67, San Antonio HemisFair '68HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair (or international exposition) held in the Southwest United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fai, Osaka Expo '70Expo '70 ( ja. was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind. This was the first World's Fair held in Japan. In Japanese Expo '70 is often refered as Osa, BrisbaneThis article is about the Australian city. For other uses of Brisbane, see Brisbane (disambiguation). Brisbane is the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The city's name is pronounced "BRIZ-buhn" ( SAMPA: ["brIzb@n], IPA: [bzbn]). The City Expo '88World Expo 88 was a Worlds Fair held in Brisbane, Australia between April 30 and October 30 1988. The theme of the Expo was "Leisure in the Age of Technology. The $AUD625 million fair was the largest event of the 1988 Bi-Centennial celebrations of Europea, SevilleThis article is about the city in Spain. For the place in the U. state of Ohio see Seville, Ohio and for the automobile see Cadillac Seville. Seville ( Spanish: Sevilla is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain, crossed by the riv Expo '92 , LisbonLisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon. Geography and Location Lisbon is situated at 38 degrees, 43 minutes north, and 9 degrees, 8 mintes west. It is located in the west of the Expo '98Expo '98 was a World's Fair held at Parque das Nacoes (Park of the Nations) in Lisbon, Portugal from May 22 to September 30 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans: A Heritage for the Future. This in part commemorated 500 years of Portuguese explorati, and Hanover, Germany Expo 2000. 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 5 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. Indeed, quite remarkably, it is believed Australia chose not to participate in Expo '98 for this reason alone, perhaps because Seville was too close and too near in time to justify another representation.

The rule may apply to all expos, or it may end up that Universal expositions will be restricted to every 5 years or so, with International / Specialized expositions in the in-between years for countries wishing to celebrate a special event.

2 International or Specialized expositions

International expositions are usually united by a common theme - such as Transportation ( Vancouver Expo '86) or 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' ( Brisbane Expo '88). Such themes are narrower that the worldwide scope of Universal expositions.

Specialized expositions have a narrow theme, such as the International Garden Exposition s, held in Osaka 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 their pre-fabricated pavilions to symbolize their nation ( Expo '88, Expo '92, Expo '93).

3 After the Fair

With certain exceptions, the majority of the structures are temporary, being dismantled at the end of the expo. A major exception is the Eiffel Tower, built for Paris' Exposition Universelle (1889). Other outstanding exceptions are the remainders from Expo '29 in Seville, Spain where the 'Plaza de España' forms part of a large park and forecourt, and many of the pavilions have become offices for Consulate-Generals. In Brussels, the Atomium still stands at the site of the 1958 exposition. The Space Needle in Seattle was the symbol of the 1962 World's Fair, and the US pavilion from that fair became the Pacific Science Center. San Antonio kept intact the Tower of the Americas, the Institue of Texan Cultures and the Convention Center from HemisFair '68. The Sunsphere remains extant from the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is housed in the last remaining building of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, which had been the Palace of Fine Arts. The intent was to make all Columbian structures permanent, but most of the structures burned, possibly the result of arson during the Pullman Strike. The World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was constructed for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, and is another example of this.

Some expo sites become parks incorporating some of the expo elements, such as:

Nashville - Tennessee Centenntial Expo
Montreal - Expo '67
San Antonio - HemisFair '68
Osaka - Expo '70
Spokane, Washington - Expo '74
Brisbane - Expo '88
Seville, Spain - Expo '92
Daejeon (Taejon), South Korea - Expo '93
Lisbon, Portugal - Expo '98.

Some pavilions have been moved overseas intact; the USSR Pavilion from Expo '67 is now in Moscow.

4 See also

List of world's fairs

5 External Links

World's Fairs

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