1939 New York World's Fair pavilions and attractions
[3] The WFC announced details of the fair's master plan in October 1936, which called for an exposition themed to "the world of tomorrow".
[14] The plan called for numerous wide tree-lined pathways, including a central "Cascade Mall" leading to the Trylon and Perisphere.
[23] The buildings included design features such as domes, spirals, buttresses, porticos, rotundas, tall pylons, and corkscrew-shaped ramps.
[20] In particular, these buildings were generally one story high and made of steel, gypsum, and stucco, while the interiors were split into spaces of uniform dimensions.
[25] In contrast to the WFC's buildings, which had a classical architectural style, many of the individual exhibitors built more modernistic structures with curving facades.
[26] Many of the buildings' facades were decorated with art, commissioned by both the WFC and by individual exhibitors;[27][28][29] the artwork included large murals, sculptures, and reliefs.
[31] Fairgoers walking to the north of the Theme Center on the Avenue of Patriots would encounter the Communications and Business Systems exhibits.
The focal point of this area was the Communications Building, a large structure designed by Francis Keally and Leonard Dean, with a pair of 160-foot-high (49 m) pylons flanking it[32][33] and a mural by Eugene Savage.
[80] China initially did not have a pavilion at the fair due to the ongoing Sino-Japanese War,[23] but a Chinese exhibit was added during the 1940 season.
[12] The buildings' designs generally included details that were influenced by the English, French, Georgian, and Spanish architectural styles.
[211][212] The Food Zone included the following buildings: For the 1940 season, it became a bazaar-style attraction where seven dealers from different countries sold items from around the world.
[35] The L-shaped structure was designed by Frederic C. Hirons and Peter Copeland, with murals by Francis Scott Bradford.
In the focal exhibit, an audience could watch a Plymouth being assembled in an early 3D film in a theater with air conditioning, then a new technology.
[283] Other buildings in the Transportation Zone included: The Amusement Area was located south of World's Fair Boulevard, along 230 acres (93 ha).
[300][301] The Amusement Area contained numerous bars, restaurants, miniature villages, musical programs, dance floors, rides, and arcade attractions.
[303] Due to the popularity of nude or seminude performances at the Golden Gate International Exposition, similar shows were presented in the Amusement Area.
The first was the Medical and Public Health Building on Constitution Mall and the Avenue of Patriots (immediately northeast of the Theme Center).
[362] At the west end of the fairground was the administration building; this structure included a first-floor hall with artifacts about the fair, in addition to offices and a cafeteria.
[364] During the fairground's construction, the administration building contained mockups of industry-themed exhibits,[365] and it was also used to test out lighting systems.
[22] The fair also had a hospitality center staffed mainly by women, This building had an auditorium, lounge, restaurant, dressing rooms, lockers, and offices for national and international organizations.
Nevada's exhibit was canceled in June 1939 due to labor-related troubles,[378] and California scrapped plans for an exhibit after the New York State Legislature refused to provide funds for a New York state pavilion at the Golden Gate International Exposition.
[24] Lynn Hardesty of The Washington Post wrote that the buildings "have astonished even the most sophisticated of art critics" because they were so colorful.
[29] Conversely, the critic Lewis Mumford lambasted the design of the fairground, calling it a "half-baked order of a Renaissance plan" that introduced disarray to the fair.
[401][402] Talbot Hamlin regarded the WFC buildings as having "neither monumentality or gaiety",[20][21] though he believed that the individual exhibitors' pavilions were "in themselves interesting and beautiful".
[404] When the fair opened, a writer for the Architectural Review said the WFC buildings lacked a logical design and that they did not give a light-hearted or imposing impression.
[170] A New York Herald Tribune writer, in mid-1939, wrote that the foreign exhibit buildings were "an absorbing and genuine display of the attractions all the countries offer".
[406] In 1964, one writer for The New York Times wrote that "the exhibits were appreciated for things their sponsors never suspected", since they provided places for guests to relax.
