In an earlier life, I wrote a couple articles about the use of geodesic domes in trade fairs and expos in the 1950s and 1960s. For much of the Fifties, domes were used by organizers of American pavillions; consequently, for millions of people in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, they became symbols of American ingenuity. Trade fairs weren't just places to show off new products or sign export deals; they were ideological battlegrounds, where the American and Soviet systems were set side by side. No serious defender of the American way of life would have missed it.
Contrast that attitude to today: the Seattle [1962 Expo] Weekly notes that the U.S. has now dropped out of the Bureau International des Expositions, the official body that chooses venues for expos.
Even businesses are less interested, for an interesting reason: "[C]orporate America, which often supplied sponsorship cash, has gone transnational. Global brands can be harmed if they are perceived as too American."
Ironically, globalization may be making the expo less significant a venue for cross-cultural exchange, demonstrations of national greatness, or industry self-promotion. Symbols of global trade are made irrelevant by global trade itself. The American pavillion at the Aichi, Japan 2005 World's Fair is sponsored in part by... Toyota.
But this line also struck my eye:
In recent years, the U.S. pavilions at world's fairs have been utterly embarrassing token gestures. In Seville in 1992, we offered up a used geodesic dome, an old film from General Motors, and a mock-up of Kansas City.
How far symbols can fall....
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