New York 1939-1940 - Trylon and Perisphere :: Architecture History

radical York 1939-1940 - Trylon and Peri playing areaAs the 1939 New York Worlds bonny was divided into some different thematic zones, its planners wanted a important symbol for this event. The authoritative idea was to have a theme center, with couple up 250 feet towers and a semicircular hall to display dioramas. Wallace K. Harrison, a prominent New York architect of the Harrison Fouilhoux firm, was selected to physique the theme center in November 1936. Harrison wanted a program that would represent a unseasoned architecture concept. In his own words, we found ourselves constantly referring to the domes and campaniles of Venice, perhaps because the flat country and water of the plum grounds are very like that of the site of Venice and in assenting the sky color of New York is practically the same. (Newhouse,82) The idea of a boastful dome was a starting point for all further designs, and many different ideas were initially developed. There were plans to use a sphere t hat was hang up by steel cables, giving it a light, airy feel as well as a large balloon, anchored by steel cables and hearty by elevator. A spherical design was not a new idea, however. An earlier example of such a design was proposed by Etienne-Louis Boulle in his project for Newtons Cenotaph in 1783, featuring a huge sphere at the center. In the end a design that featured a sphere 200 feet in diameter raised on pillars was selected. despite its huge dimensions, with a 200- tush diameter, it was hard to grasp the exact scale of the sphere. Harrison and his design team finally came up with the idea of using a overblown spike to frame the sphere, but there was still the problem of placing the 2 in relation with each other. They found inspiration from drawings by a Soviet constructivist architect named Jacob Tchernikhov, which represented two large spheres connected to a tall spike by way of a incline.The final design had emerged. It included the Perisphere, a 200 foot spherica l exhibit building, the Trylon, a 700 foot tall three sided obelisk, and the Helicline , a 950 foot circular ramp which connected the two and allowed visitors to exit. However the final dimensions of the building was reduced from the original values to a 180 foot sphere and a 610 foot spike due to budget limitations, which threw off the carefully calculated proportions. The Perisphere was high from the ground by five steel pillars, and rested over a large reflecting pool.