WORLD'S FAIRS

Optimism shines through in Henry Ford exhibit of World's Fairs of the 1930s

Cleveland's Great Lakes Exposition guidebook shows elements of the Streamline Moderne style. It's part of the "Designing Tomorrow: America's World's Fairs of the 1930s" exhibit that runs this Saturday through Sept. 2 at the Henry Ford. (The Henry Ford)
from:  detroitnews.com
 By Michael H. Hodges
 Detroit News Fine Arts Writer
April 25, 2013
Has there ever been a more seductive view of the future? The 1930s might have been a time of global depression, but that didn't stop the design industry in its optimistic rush toward that more abundant life just around the corner.

This postcard shows the Ford Rotunda at night. (The Henry Ford)
This glittering vision, in all its elegance and magnificent kitsch, will debut Saturday at The Henry Ford with "Designing Tomorrow: America's World's Fairs of the 1930s." The show, originally curated by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., runs through Sept. 2.

 

The Texas Centennial Exposition took place in 1936 in Dallas.
(The Henry Ford)
"Designing Tomorrow" covers six world's fairs in the '30s — the 1933 Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago, San Diego's 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, the Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas and Cleveland's Great Lakes Exposition in 1936, and in 1939, the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and the New York World's Fair.

At least viewed through the lens of the world's fairs, it was an era of great confidence and can-do spirit. Nothing epitomized that better than the fairs' dominant architectural theme, Streamline Moderne — a late version of Art Deco that followed industry in stripping away ornament in favor of curved lines and the aerodynamics associated with great passenger liners such as the S.S. Normandie.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130425/ENT01/304250303#ixzz2RTURrEt4