What happens to the buildings, some of them by great architects, after a World’s Fair is over?
Jade Doskow at Jade Doskow Photography wants to save them. She is part of a group that might save at least one.
From her website: “April 2014 marked the 50-year anniversary of the New York World’s Fair, part of which is the iconic New York State Pavilion, designed by Philip Johnson, one of the most revered architects of the last 100 years.
“Famously described by Ada Louise Huxtable as ‘carnival with class,’ the Pavilion is in serious need of renovation before it deteriorates further. In Doskow’s two large-scale photographs of the New York State Pavilion both the grandeur and the decay of this magnificent structure are readily apparent.
“People for the Pavilion (PFP) is a volunteer-run advocacy organization whose mission is to develop a vibrant community around the structure, and to ultimately preserve and develop a sustainable reuse plan for it.” More here.
Musée magazine writes that Doskow’s interest in the afterlife of World’s Fair buildings extends beyond New York: “Onishi Project Gallery presents Jade Doskow’s ‘World’s Fairs: Lost Utopias,’ for the 50th anniversary of the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Her seven-year project captures the memory of the fair by documenting the architecture and grounds left behind. The images hold a melancholy feeling about people and the spaces they no longer use, while displaying the fun atmosphere of the memories retained in these dormant structures.”
See Doskow’s photos of other World’s Fairs, including Buckminster Fuller’s dome in Montreal, here.
Photo: Jade Doskow
New York 1964 World’s Fair, “Peace Through Understanding,” New York State Pavilion
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
i remember being there…
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I remember going to the NY World’s Fair with my uncle’s family, but I don’t remember that particular building — or much of anything. I know we ate some yummy pastry from Denmark, though.
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We went to the NY World’s Fair, too–and I remember eating Belgian waffles for the first time. Every time we drive into Montreal, we see the skeletal remains of Fuller’s geodesic dome. Some of these buildings were pretty spectacular!
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I don’t know if our interconnected world is still having World’s Fairs. One hopes we have learned not to create more waste — at least to plan an afterlife for all the buildings and parks. Boston is talking about wanting the Olympics here. I worry about the leftovers and whether the real needs in the area will be met.
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Lake Placid did a good job of planning an afterlife for the things they built for the winter Olympics–but that was in 1980 before the Olympics became so huge. Brazil is getting a lot of flack for the money they’re spending on the World Cup and the Olympics, when so many people are living such desperate lives there.
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Yes. If the team had won, perhaps all would have been forgiven, but now Brazil’s leaders are in for it, I think.
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