1964 New York World's Fair pavilions
The exhibits were split across five regions—the Federal and State, International, Transportation, Amusement, and Industrial areas—which in turn were centered around the Unisphere.
Many nations from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, though relatively few from Europe, exhibited at the fair.
[1] The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) refused to formally approve the 1964 New York World's Fair, despite advocacy from WFC president Robert Moses.
[6][7] Exhibitors designed their own pavilions, and the construction contractors hired members of local labor unions to build the structures.
[16] The fairground was divided into five regions,[17] centered around the Unisphere, a representation of the Earth designed by Gilmore D. Clarke and constructed by the American Bridge Company.
[17] South of the Long Island Expressway, connected with the rest of the fair only via one overpass, was the Lake Amusement Area.
[36] Some exhibitors increased the capacity of their attractions,[30] while other pavilions received new exhibits or interior renovations.
[43] The New York Times described the buildings as a collection of "domes, disks, cubes, spires, pylons, ovoids, arches, triangles, curves and soaring free forms.
[25][60] The fair included exhibits from 24 states,[61] including Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the six states in New England.
[64] Pavilions for the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Arkansas, as well as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, were canceled before the fair formally opened.
[114] If nations that were represented only by one city or region are included,[b] the fair featured attractions from 80 countries.
[111][115] Many nations from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, though relatively few from Europe, exhibited at the fair.
[116][26][115] Among the countries with official exhibits were Guinea, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Republic, and Venezuela.
[21][117] Other nations set up unofficial exhibits, including Austria, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as the colony of Hong Kong and the enclave of West Berlin.
[21] Foreign nations rented the land from the WFC,[118] and they also paid for lodging, food, and other expenses for their staff.
[123][124] The privately sponsored pavilions generally showcased commercial products instead of exhibits about their respective nations' cultures.
The 1964 fair included few companies in the food, chemical, tobacco, cosmetic, or pharmaceutical industries.
[22] Robert Moses also provided about 7 acres (2.8 ha) for religious groups at the fairground, and he invited every major sect of Christianity to the fair.
[369] A privately sponsored French pavilion, which was supposed to have contained three structures,[370] was partially built and then canceled.
[139] Several exhibitors chose to sell off their buildings due to the high cost of demolition,[374] including U.S. Steel and Thailand.
[348] In the northwestern part of the park, the New York Hall of Science was preserved as a museum[385][387] and was expanded in 2004.
[403][404] The Aquacade amphitheater, originally built for the 1939 fair,[391] also decayed extensively[405] and was ultimately demolished in 1996.
[391][407] The Louis Armstrong Stadium replaced half of the Singer Bowl in 1977, while the remainder of the venue was preserved as a grandstand,[408] which was razed in 2016.
[423] The US Royal Ferris wheel became the Uniroyal Giant Tire in Allen Park, Michigan,[412][315] while the Johnson Wax pavilion became the Golden Rondelle Theater in Racine, Wisconsin.
[425][427] Arches from the General Mills pavilion were sent to Warwick, Rhode Island; Huntsville, Ohio; and West Hempstead, New York.
The IBM pavilion's Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond exhibit is at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan,[434] while Travelers Insurance sent its Triumph of Man exhibit to the COSI museum in Columbus, Ohio.
[439][440] The Belgian Village carousel became Le Galopant at La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec,[441] though the ride no longer operates as of 2023[update].
[451] The critic Vincent Scully Jr. derided the fair in a Life magazine article, "If This Is Architecture, God Help Us".
[448][449] Conversely, Time magazine wrote in June 1964 that the fair had "grace and substance" despite the presence of some "tacky" attractions,[451][452] a sentiment repeated in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
[454] A Newsday reporter described the fair as "both garish and subtle, tawdry and tasteful, ephemeral and lasting".
