Inspiration: New York World's Fair: IBM Pavilion
Posted: Sunday, January 08, 2012
The IBM Pavilion at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was an architectural novelty that combined natural forms with computerized logic. Giant steel trees supported a one-acre hexagonal grid canopy on which rested a giant egg. It was one of the final projects of legendary modern architect Eero Saarinen.
Saarinen wasn't the only giant of modern design associated with IBM's spectacle; the interior of the enormous egg contained nine "randomly sized" screens that featured a film produced by the designers of the space, Charles and Ray Eames. Other attractions in this pavilion included a giant pinball-like "Probability Machine," a computer that apparently read your handwriting to display historical information based on your birthdate and a series of Punch and Judy-style mechanical puppet shows that were described intriguingly as adding up to a "data-machine strip tease."
This is the second in my series of posts featuring high-resolution scans of the small pen-and-ink drawings found throughout Time-Life's Guide to the 1964/1965 World's Fair. The material for this post was gathered from the Time-Life Guide itself, the fantastic NYWF64.com and this fascinating article on ModernMechanix.com. -e
This is the second in my series of posts featuring high-resolution scans of the small pen-and-ink drawings found throughout Time-Life's Guide to the 1964/1965 World's Fair. The material for this post was gathered from the Time-Life Guide itself, the fantastic NYWF64.com and this fascinating article on ModernMechanix.com. -e