Perisphere
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The Trylon and the Perisphere were the central structures of the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940. Connected to the Trylon, which stood 600 feet tall, by the Helicline, at the time the world's longest escalator, the Perisphere was a tremendous sphere, 180 feet in diameter. The sphere housed a diorama called "Democracity" which, in keeping with the fair's theme "The World of Tomorrow", depicted a utopian city-of-the-future. Democracity was viewed from above on a moving sidewalk, under movies displayed on the sides of the sphere. The Trylon and the Perisphere became symbols of the 1939 World's Fair, reproduced on promotional materials and serving as the fairground's focal point [1]
The Perisphere was designed by architects Wallace Harrison and J. Andre Fouilhoux, with the interior exhibit by Henry Dreyfuss. The structures were originally built in Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York, but both structures were subsequently razed and scrapped for use in World War II armaments.
The concept of the Perisphere was revisited in the later 1964/1965 New York World's Fair with the Unisphere, as well as with Spaceship Earth at Epcot in Walt Disney World.
In the DC Comics comic book series All-Star Squadron, the squadron used the Perisphere as their headquarters.
To cynics or literalists, the Trylon and the Perisphere together looked like a gigantic golf ball that had fallen off its tee.
In the 2004 movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the two structures are briefly seen in an arctic region.
[edit] References
- ^ Harrison, Helen. "Stuart Davis' 'World of Tomorrow.' American Art, Vol. 9, No. 3. (Autumn, 1995), pp. 96-100.
[edit] Further reading
- Cohen, Barbara. Trylon and Perisphere. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1989.
- Gelernter, David. 1939: The Lost World of the Fair. The Free Press, New York, 1995.
- Newhouse, Victoria. Wallace K. Harrision, Architect. Rezzoli International Publications Inc. New York, 1989.
- "New York World's Fair, 1939." Architectural Forum, June 1939. vol. 70, pp. 393-462.
- "The World's Fair will put on a 6-minute show inside its perisphere." Life, Aug. 1938. pp. 55-58.
