Design for a Fair: The United States Pavilion at Expo 67 Montreal Pchermayeff 2010-07-26 | http://www.peterchermayeff.com In 1965, the US Government, represented by the US Information Agency, having decided to fund and develop US participation at Expo '67, a Category 1 World's Fair, in Montreal, put Jack Masey of USIA in charge and retained Cambridge Seven Associates, architects and exhibit designers, to undertake the design of the exhibition and Buckminster Fuller to undertake the design of the enclosing pavilion. The principals of Cambridge Seven proposed to Buckminster Fuller that he and his colleagues provide a 3/4 geodesic sphere as the pavilion structure, within which they would design a composition of platforms linked by escalators and stairs, floating free within the space, never touching the sphere. The Cambridge Seven team also requested that the Expo Authorities route their looping Expo Monorail through the sphere at the equator, adding another kinetic experience to the space. The exhibition featured NASA's space exploration technology, the movies of Hollywood, abstract expressionist painting and sculpture, and a broad range of inventions, musical instruments, hats and folk art, all as an expression of the diverse creative spirit of America. Voices in the film: Jack Masey, United States Information Agency Ivan Chermayeff Peter Chermayeff Paul E. Dietrich Tom Geismar Terry Rankine, founders of Cambridge Seven Associates with Alden B. Christie in 1962. © Peter Chermayeff www.peterchermayeff.com For a DVD or Blu-ray copy, or for permission to reproduce or use in other contexts, please write to pchermayeff@peterchermayeff.com.
