The History of World Expositions
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Copyright: Kraemer 1900, o.S.

The magnificent buildings from preceding world expositions in Paris - the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero and the Machine Hall were succeeded by a diverse architectural panorama in 1900. The strong increase in the number of themes to be exhibited and participating nations resulted in a collaboration between a large number of architects and prevented the exposition from focussing on any one particular architectural style. In addition to the two palaces of art, the monumental entrance portal by René Binet, the assembly room installed in the Machine Hall, the Palais de l'Electricité and the Water Palace were extolled as architectural attractions of the world exposition.


The exhibition site could be entered via a main gate with 36 entrances. The "Porte Monumentale" - also known as the "Porte Binet", after its architect, was an example of richly ornamented scenic architecture which had a major influence in shaping the exposition's overall appearance. The hall consisted of three arches connected in a triangle, covered by a dome roof of 500 square metres in size. Two minarets of 35 metres in height flanked the main arch for lighting purposes. A tower emerged from the dome like a bud, and the host city of Paris was represented at the top of this tower in the form of an allegorical female figure by Paul Moreau-Vauthier. Inside the hall, niche figures were installed which were intended to portray electricity, while the ties joining the minaret to the main arch were decorated with friezes showing larger-than-life depictions of workers from various trades. To further enhance the effect of the entire gate and to celebrate the potential offered by electricity, 3116 light bulbs were installed along the lines of the building and inside the hall, together with 12 arc lamps on the dome and the minarets, 8 spotlights and 16 simple reflectors.


The Grand Palais des Arts - the venue for the international exhibition of contemporary art - was the result of the collaboration of four architects, whose different approaches were expressed in the four different historicising façade designs. The additive practice of employing various decorative styles for a building and the combination of different building techniques - the building's skeleton consisted of an iron frame, which was enclosed by masonry - make the Grand Palais an example of an approach to architecture which was as yet unwilling to abandon past forms, while at the same time displaying a certain reserve towards new building practices. In a similar vein, the facing small Palais des Arts, which housed the retrospective art exhibition, offering a magnificent review of the heights of artistic achievement of the past, was reminiscent of the style which prevailed at the time of Louis XVI, with its columned entrance hall and its decorative figures. It was nevertheless the architect Girault's designs which were praised for their greater homogeneity.

At the same time temporary, though none the less imposing, pavilions were built for the duration of the exhibition. The intention was to establish an appropriately modern form of spatial presentation for the progressive new branches of industry, while at the same time taking due account of the event's retrospective and assessing character. This led to a confused conglomeration of styles which received widespread criticism, featuring architectural references and buildings largely in the character of scenic backdrops. The shortness of the construction period was not utilised to experiment with new architectural forms for exhibition pavilions which might have used their ephemeral character as a medium of self-expression. Instead, lavish decorative means were applied to simulate stately stone buildings with plaster façades cast over steel and wire frames.


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The Paris 1900 World Exposition
Paris as allegorical female figure
Year: 1900City: ParisCountry: France
Duration: 15th April - 12th November 1900

 

 

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