Expo 67: Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
|||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
|} |
|} |
||
:''[[Man and His World]] redirects here - for the [[1990 in film|1990]] [[animation|animated]] [[documentary film|documentary]] [[feature film]] by [[Bruno Bozzetto]], see [[Man and His World (film)|Man and His World]].'' |
:''[[Man and His World]] redirects here - for the [[1990 in film|1990]] [[animation|animated]] [[documentary film|documentary]] [[feature film]] by [[Bruno Bozzetto]], see [[Man and His World (film)|Man and His World]].'' |
||
The '''1967 International and Universal Exposition''', or simply '''Expo 67''' was a [[World's Fair]] held in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]] in [[1967]] to coincide with the [[Canadian Centennial]] that year. Expo 67 was originally going to be held in [[Moscow]], to help the [[Soviet Union]] celebrate the 50th anniversary of its revolution. |
The '''1967 International and Universal Exposition''', or simply '''Expo 67''' was a [[World's Fair]] held in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]] in [[1967]] to coincide with the [[Canadian Centennial]] that year. Expo 67 was originally going to be held in [[Moscow]], to help the [[Soviet Union]] celebrate the 50th anniversary of its revolution. |
||
==History== |
|||
The idea of hosting the 1967 World's Fair dates back to 1956. In 1958 when the Conservative senator Mark Drouin pushed for the exhibition. Initially offered to [[Toronto]], politician's there rejected the idea, yet Montreal mayor Sarto Fournier backed the proposal. But Canada lost out to Moscow when that city was awarded the fair the International Bureau of Expositions (B.I.E.). In 1962 the Soviets scrapped plans to host the fair due to financial constraints. New Montreal city mayor [[Jean Drapeau]] lobbied the Canadian government to try again for the fair, which they did. On November 15th 1962 the B.I.E. changed the location of the World's fair to Canada. Which became the Western Hemisphere's first official World's Fair since the B.I.E. was established in 1928. |
|||
The original proposed site was to be Mont Royal Park (to the north of the downtown core). It was Drapeau's idea to create new islands in the St. Lawrence river, along with using [[Île Ste. Hélène]]. |
|||
But things didn't get off to a smooth start when in 1963 many top organizing committee officals resigned. One of the reasons for the resignations was a computer program predicted that the event couldn't possibly be constructed in time. (see [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-100-527/life_society/expo_67/clip2 CBC Televison video clip] |
|||
==Overview== |
==Overview== |
||
The main part of the fair was held on [[Saint Helen's Island]] and [[Ile Notre-Dame]], the latter an [[artificial island]] built from earth excavated for the [[Montreal metro]] system, first opened in [[1966]]. Expo 67 opened on [[April 28]], 1967 and featured 90 pavilions for nations, corporations and industries including the [[Biosphère|U.S. pavilion]], a [[geodesic dome]] designed by [[Buckminster Fuller]]. Expo 67 also featured the [[Habitat 67]] housing complex designed by architect [[Moshe Safdie]], which is still occupied. The [[Golden Centennaires]] also performed at expo. |
The main part of the fair was held on [[Saint Helen's Island]] and [[Ile Notre-Dame]], the latter an [[artificial island]] built from earth excavated for the [[Montreal metro]] system, first opened in [[1966]]. Expo 67 opened on [[April 28]], 1967 and featured 90 pavilions for nations, corporations and industries including the [[Biosphère|U.S. pavilion]], a [[geodesic dome]] designed by [[Buckminster Fuller]]. An estimated 315,000 visitors showed up for opening day, with only 120,000 people expected. Expo 67 also featured the [[Habitat 67]] housing complex designed by architect [[Moshe Safdie]], which is still occupied. The [[Golden Centennaires]] also performed at expo. |
||
A notable feature of Expo 67 was the World Festival of Entertainment, featuring opera, ballet and theatre companies, alongside orchestras, jazz groups, famous Canadian pop musicians and other cultural attractions. |
A notable feature of Expo 67 was the World Festival of Entertainment, featuring opera, ballet and theatre companies, alongside orchestras, jazz groups, famous Canadian pop musicians and other cultural attractions. |
||
| Line 26: | Line 35: | ||
===Theme Song=== |
===Theme Song=== |
||
The official Expo 67 Theme Song was composed by [[Donald Lautrec]] and was titled: "Hey Friend, Say Friend / Un Jour, Un Jour". |
The official Expo 67 Theme Song was composed by [[Donald Lautrec]] and was titled: "Hey Friend, Say Friend / Un Jour, Un Jour". Complaints were made about the suitablity of the song as lyrics neither mention Montreal or Expo '67. |
||
But the song that most Canadians associate with Expo was written by [[Bobby Gimby]], a veteran commercial jingle writer who wrote the popular Expo tune "[[Canada (song)|Ca-na-da]]", which went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Gimby earned the name the "Pied Piper of Canada". The musical score of the song was composed by Ben McPeek, who also created the music played in the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry pavilion. In 1971, Gimby granted all future royalties to [[Scouts Canada|the Boy Scouts of Canada]]. |
But the song that most Canadians associate with Expo was written by [[Bobby Gimby]], a veteran commercial jingle writer who wrote the popular Expo tune "[[Canada (song)|Ca-na-da]]", which went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Gimby earned the name the "Pied Piper of Canada". The musical score of the song was composed by Ben McPeek, who also created the music played in the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry pavilion. In 1971, Gimby granted all future royalties to [[Scouts Canada|the Boy Scouts of Canada]]. |
||
Revision as of 08:58, 27 August 2006
- Man and His World redirects here - for the 1990 animated documentary feature film by Bruno Bozzetto, see Man and His World.
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, or simply Expo 67 was a World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1967 to coincide with the Canadian Centennial that year. Expo 67 was originally going to be held in Moscow, to help the Soviet Union celebrate the 50th anniversary of its revolution.
History
The idea of hosting the 1967 World's Fair dates back to 1956. In 1958 when the Conservative senator Mark Drouin pushed for the exhibition. Initially offered to Toronto, politician's there rejected the idea, yet Montreal mayor Sarto Fournier backed the proposal. But Canada lost out to Moscow when that city was awarded the fair the International Bureau of Expositions (B.I.E.). In 1962 the Soviets scrapped plans to host the fair due to financial constraints. New Montreal city mayor Jean Drapeau lobbied the Canadian government to try again for the fair, which they did. On November 15th 1962 the B.I.E. changed the location of the World's fair to Canada. Which became the Western Hemisphere's first official World's Fair since the B.I.E. was established in 1928.
The original proposed site was to be Mont Royal Park (to the north of the downtown core). It was Drapeau's idea to create new islands in the St. Lawrence river, along with using Île Ste. Hélène.
But things didn't get off to a smooth start when in 1963 many top organizing committee officals resigned. One of the reasons for the resignations was a computer program predicted that the event couldn't possibly be constructed in time. (see CBC Televison video clip
Overview
The main part of the fair was held on Saint Helen's Island and Ile Notre-Dame, the latter an artificial island built from earth excavated for the Montreal metro system, first opened in 1966. Expo 67 opened on April 28, 1967 and featured 90 pavilions for nations, corporations and industries including the U.S. pavilion, a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. An estimated 315,000 visitors showed up for opening day, with only 120,000 people expected. Expo 67 also featured the Habitat 67 housing complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie, which is still occupied. The Golden Centennaires also performed at expo.
A notable feature of Expo 67 was the World Festival of Entertainment, featuring opera, ballet and theatre companies, alongside orchestras, jazz groups, famous Canadian pop musicians and other cultural attractions.
The Expo was one of the most successful World's Fairs and is still regarded fondly by Canadians. Some even consider it to be one of the biggest events of the 20th century. 1967 is often referred to as "the last good year" before economic decline, Quebec sovereigntism (seen as negative from a federalist viewpoint), and political apathy became common. Despite this there were problems: FLQ terrorists were active at the time and death threats were issued. American President Lyndon B. Johnson's visit became a focus of anti-war protesters.
More than 50 million visitors (50,306,648) attended Expo 67 at a time when Canada's population was only 20 million, setting a record for World Fair attendance that still stands. The fair was visited by many of the most notable people of the day including Queen Elizabeth II, Lyndon Johnson, Princess Grace, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Charles de Gaulle, who created an international controversy when he shouted "Vive le Québec libre!" ("Long Live Free Quebec") from the balcony of Montreal city hall on July 24 (this slogan being well known as the rallying cry of the Quebec independentists).
Montreal's former baseball team, the Expos, was named after the event.
After 1967, the site struggled on for years as a standing collection of international pavilions known as "Man and His World." However, as attendance declined, the physical condition of the site deteriorated, and less and less of it was open to the public. In 1975 the Île Notre-Dame section of the site was completely rebuilt around the new rowing basin for Montreal's 1976 Summer Olympics. Space for the basin, the boathouses, the changing rooms and other buildings was obtained by demolishing many of the former pavilions and cutting in half the area taken by the artificial lake and the canals. In 1976, a fire destroyed the acrylic outer skin of Buckminster Fuller's dome. With the site falling into disrepair it began to resemble ruins of a futuristic city. In the late 70s, scenes for Robert Altman's post-apocalyptic ice age Quintet (film) were shot on site, as was an episode of Battlestar Galactica, which portrayed it as the ruins of a city left behind after a biological attack. Some of the footage showing the United Kingdom pavilion was reused in Buck Rogers. The remaining original exhibits of the site closed for good in 1982.
Today, the site houses the Montreal Casino (in the former pavilions of France and Quebec), the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve race track, an amusement park called La Ronde, and many acres of parkland and cycle paths on Ile Saint-Helene and the western tip of Ile Notre-Dame. The old US pavilion still stands, currently housing a science museum on the theme of water (the Biosphère). On Ile Notre-Dame the Olympic basin is used by many rowing clubs of the area. In summer, an artificial beach, recently built on the shore of the remaining artificial lake, has been very popular. In previous years the site has been used for a number of events such as an international botanical festival, Les floralies. The young trees and shrubs planted for Expo 67 are now mature. The plants introduced during the botanical events have prospered also. In the warmest weeks of the summer the two islands are cool, leafy havens compared to the overheated city. In the winter, brave Montrealers skate on the frozen Olympic basin of Île Notre-Dame, whipped by the glacial winds coming from the Saint Lawrence River.
Logo
The logo was designed by Montreal artist Julien Hébert. The basic unit of the logo is an ancienct symbol of man. Two of the symbols are linked as to represent friendship. The icon was put into a circle as to represent 'friendship around the world'.
Theme Song
The official Expo 67 Theme Song was composed by Donald Lautrec and was titled: "Hey Friend, Say Friend / Un Jour, Un Jour". Complaints were made about the suitablity of the song as lyrics neither mention Montreal or Expo '67.
But the song that most Canadians associate with Expo was written by Bobby Gimby, a veteran commercial jingle writer who wrote the popular Expo tune "Ca-na-da", which went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Gimby earned the name the "Pied Piper of Canada". The musical score of the song was composed by Ben McPeek, who also created the music played in the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry pavilion. In 1971, Gimby granted all future royalties to the Boy Scouts of Canada.
Facts and Figures
- All figures in 1967 values and in Canadian funds:
- Cost: $431,904,683
- Revenue: $221,239,872
today worth $1.768 billion - Deficit: $210,664,811
- Chief Architect: M. Edouard Fiset
- Participating Countries:
- Africa: Algeria, Cameroun, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Upper Volta
- Asia: Burma, Ceylon, China (Taiwan), Korea, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Thailand and the United Arab Republic
- Australia
- Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the USSR, and Yugoslavia
- Latin America: Barbados, Cuba, Grenade, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
- North America: Canada, Mexico, and the United States
Pavilions
National Pavilions
- Canada - The destinctive building comprised of a large inverted pyramid called the Katimavik, which is the Innuit word for "Gathering Place". The pavilion was located on a 30,285 sq metre lot. The major attractions in the building included The Land of Canada, The Growth of Canada and The Challenge to Canadians and Canada and the World.
- Cuba
- Czechoslovakia
- France
- Greece
- India
- Iran
- Israel
- Italy
- Poland
- West Germany (FRG) (designed by Frei Otto, who also worked on the design of the Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000)
- Africa Place
- United Kingdom
- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
- United States of America (USA) (designed by Buckminster Fuller)
Regional Pavilions
- Ontario - The pavilion contained 16 bilingual exhibits, a 570 seat circular (66 x 30 foot screen) theatre which played a 16-minute multi-image film and a large restaurant complex. The movie include the song "A Place to Stand, A Place to Grow" which became the unoffical theme song for Ontario.
- Quebec
- Atlantic Provinces - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland shared the same pavilion building.
- Western Provinces - Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia all shared the same building space.
- Indians of Canada
Thematic Pavilions
- Man and His World
- Man the Producer
- Man and the Arctic
- Man and the Ocean
- Indians of Canada - A pavilion devoted to the aboriginals of Canada.
Industrial Pavilions
- Alcan
- Bell Canada
- Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry Pavilion - 44 stylized tree tops created the unique roof, the tallest tree reaching 8 stories. Out front guests were greeted by a stylized sculpture of a roll of paper being unwound, it had the attached meaning of "(paper) the principal tool Man uses to record his thoughts". The trees were constructed with tongue and groove Douglas fir plywood (19mm) over a steel frame. All of the trees had the same 4.9 m² base, but the height varied from 5 to 18m. The plywood was then coated with various shades of green epoxy paints. Over 9,300 m² of plywood was used to build the roof.
- Air Canada
Legacy
The only buildings remaining in use on the Expo grounds are the Buckminister Fuller dome (now operating as a museum called Biosphère) and the Habitat '67 residences. Also, the French and Quebec pavillions are now part of the Montreal Casino. The Jamaican Pavillion is still standing, and the Place des Nations is also. There are several other remains, such as lamposts and landscaping.
The band They Might Be Giants referenced Expo '67 in their song Purple Toupee.
Miscellaneous
On opening day, there was considerable comment on the uniform of the hostesses from the UK Pavilion. The dresses had been designed to the then new minidress style, which had been introduced in the previous year by Mary Quant. By the middle of the summer, nearly every other pavilion had raised the hem of the uniforms of their hostesses. Canadian women were quick to take to the liberated style of the mini skirt.
With the closure of Expo 67, the exhibition site on Saint Helen's Island was used during the next and several following years as an attraction called "Man & His World" (which was the sub-title of Expo 67). The Montreal Metro (Underground railway) was opened in time for Expo 67, and included a station on St Helen's island to give public transport to the exhibition. This resulted in Montrealers having easy access to the park on the island after all of the other attractions had closed.
Absent countries included The People's Republic of China, Spain, South Africa, and many countries of South America.
See also
- A Place to Stand, A Place to Grow
- A Centennial Song
- 1967 in Canada
- 1976 Summer Olympics, also held in Montreal.
- Expo '86, held in Vancouver
- Ontario Place, a Toronto park created in the 1970s to mimic Expo '67.
- Annual Canadian expos the Canadian National Exhibition and Pacific National Exhibition