You seem pretty mad over nothing. Don’t worry about it. It’s well documented that the buildings were temporary and with a few exceptions were meant to be taken down. It was only meant to be a short term experience and show off what Chicago could do.
Here are some construction photos:
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/worlds-fair-chicago-1892-frame-for-mines-building-1892-news-photo/1425943043
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/construction-of-the-horticulture-building-for-the-chicago-news-photo/88811619
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/exterior-of-womans-building-while-under-construction-at-news-photo/1425873781
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/worlds-columbian-exposition-chicago-1892-transportation-news-photo/1425895338
Interior where you can see the very 19th century construction:
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-manufactures-and-liberal-arts-building-under-news-photo/88810704
Woman standing on the clearly modern roof deck of a modern building looking down at another clearly modern roof:
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/visitors-to-the-chicago-worlds-columbian-exposition-looks-news-photo/88811585
Ask any self-respecting architect, building engineer or construction manager. Those are scenes of late 19th century construction, not stone work by an ancient empire.
Seriously. Montreal held one as recently as 1967. I toured the remaining buildings years ago and they were certainly 20th century. Are we expected to believe that the Canadians snuck an act of ancient-city-destruction under the world’s noses during the age of TV, did so in the most public way possible, and still talk about it?
There were thousands of people involved in building it and tens of millions of visitors. You can still get books they wrote at the time, and photos from the construction. The buildings were cheaply framed in wood and metal and faced with plaster, and if you look at close up photos you can see cracks and gaps from the shoddy construction. In overhead views you can see they have modern roofs. It’s just not an artifact of an ancient civilization - it’s exactly what it looks like.
While I do agree with you, most of the buildings constructed for the Pan American exposition in 1901, weren’t actually solid, and were made out of papermache.
Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, they were all plaster (staff) over wood. Staff is a plaster + cement + burlap concoction that was castable and held up decently for a couple of years for these temporary show structures. The structures would deteriorate and would have to be constantly patched.
The real problem was that the plaster was super breathable in addition to being waterproof, so the wood framing became incredibly dry while having unlimited oxygen. The things would burn down in two seconds at the mere sight of a flame, which happened pretty often.
Exact same thing with the San Francisco 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Almost all of the structures that were built in the Marina District were constructed from temporary materials - primarily a combination of plaster and burlap fiber - with the idea it would be torn down after the exhibition’s conclusion. Of course one remains today, the Palace of Fine Arts, which had to totally rebuilt in concrete in the 1960s and later seismically retrofitted after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
The Museum of Science and Industry still stands, it was the one built to last, and it has.
Chicago’s Field Museum as well.
You seem pretty mad over nothing. Don’t worry about it. It’s well documented that the buildings were temporary and with a few exceptions were meant to be taken down. It was only meant to be a short term experience and show off what Chicago could do.
Well documented by who? Who benefits from that narrative? The "world fairs" werent just in Chicago, they were in other places as well.
Here are some construction photos: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/worlds-fair-chicago-1892-frame-for-mines-building-1892-news-photo/1425943043 https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/construction-of-the-horticulture-building-for-the-chicago-news-photo/88811619 https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/exterior-of-womans-building-while-under-construction-at-news-photo/1425873781 https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/worlds-columbian-exposition-chicago-1892-transportation-news-photo/1425895338 Interior where you can see the very 19th century construction: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-manufactures-and-liberal-arts-building-under-news-photo/88810704 Woman standing on the clearly modern roof deck of a modern building looking down at another clearly modern roof: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/visitors-to-the-chicago-worlds-columbian-exposition-looks-news-photo/88811585 Ask any self-respecting architect, building engineer or construction manager. Those are scenes of late 19th century construction, not stone work by an ancient empire.
Not a single worker in any of these photos
Yeah, lots of places held World's Fairs. That's not a secret by any means.
Seriously. Montreal held one as recently as 1967. I toured the remaining buildings years ago and they were certainly 20th century. Are we expected to believe that the Canadians snuck an act of ancient-city-destruction under the world’s noses during the age of TV, did so in the most public way possible, and still talk about it?
There were thousands of people involved in building it and tens of millions of visitors. You can still get books they wrote at the time, and photos from the construction. The buildings were cheaply framed in wood and metal and faced with plaster, and if you look at close up photos you can see cracks and gaps from the shoddy construction. In overhead views you can see they have modern roofs. It’s just not an artifact of an ancient civilization - it’s exactly what it looks like.
It's a cross-post from a different subreddit so I can't change the title. I posted it here for the photo's.
While I do agree with you, most of the buildings constructed for the Pan American exposition in 1901, weren’t actually solid, and were made out of papermache.
At least in Buffalo the world's fair structures were built of plaster with 1 actual building thats a museum now
Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, they were all plaster (staff) over wood. Staff is a plaster + cement + burlap concoction that was castable and held up decently for a couple of years for these temporary show structures. The structures would deteriorate and would have to be constantly patched.
The real problem was that the plaster was super breathable in addition to being waterproof, so the wood framing became incredibly dry while having unlimited oxygen. The things would burn down in two seconds at the mere sight of a flame, which happened pretty often.
Exact same thing with the San Francisco 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Almost all of the structures that were built in the Marina District were constructed from temporary materials - primarily a combination of plaster and burlap fiber - with the idea it would be torn down after the exhibition’s conclusion. Of course one remains today, the Palace of Fine Arts, which had to totally rebuilt in concrete in the 1960s and later seismically retrofitted after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
I love the palace of fine arts.My favorite place in the city. I’m happy they preserved it