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A History of World Expositions - Part VI Sevilla 1992

It was King Juan Carlos I who in 1976 first had the idea of holding a world exposition (one that would connect back to the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition held in Seville). The idea gained the support of the Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales, a native of Seville. This together with the facts that Christopher Columbus is purportedly buried in Seville's cathedral, that he set sail on his voyage of discovery from this port city and that beginning in 1524 the Council for the Indies ruled Spain's overseas territories from Seville, meant that there was no more appropriate place to celebrate the quincentennial of the New World's discovery. But in December 1981 - the United States also applied to hold a world exposition in Chicago in 1992, six months before the Spanish government submitted its application. The BIE decided that the expositions in Chicago and Seville would be held jointly. This potential problem resolved itself in 1987 when Chicago withdrew its application. In 1992, the kingdom of Spain was at the center of world events: Barcelona played host to the XXV Summer Olympic Games, Madrid was the European Cultural Capital and the country was admitted into the European Economic Community, the predecessor of today's European Union. The exposition grounds' gates were opened on Easter Monday, April 20 and closed on October 12, the day of the five hundredth anniversary of the new continents' discovery.

The overarching theme was the "Age of Discovery," which the organizers understood as paying tribute to human curiosity and desire for knowledge. The 188-hectare exhibition grounds were located on La Cartuja Island (named after the Carthusian monks who had built a monastery on the island) and in an enclave beyond the Guadalquivir River near to Seville's historic center. The expo's official logo contained a globe, which symbolized the world as connected by communications networks. The expo mascot was Curro (an informal nickname in Andalusia), who took the form of a white bird with the legs of an elephant; its beak and crest were in the colors of the rainbow. A total of six bridges were built across the Guadalquivir to provide access to the exposition grounds.

Visitors had a total of 123 exhibitions to choose from. Of these, 93 belonged to the world's countries (although only 59 had their own pavilions), 17 to the provinces of Spain, 4 to international organizations, 7 to companies, 2 to religious institutions, 7 were thematic pavilions and there was the Royal Pavilion. There was a great deal of interest in the thematic pavilions Navigation (in front of which replicas of the caravels NiEa, Pinta and Santa Maria were anchored), The Fifteenth Century, Discoveries (where the Domorama planetarium was located), Nature and The Future. The exposition grounds were divided into five zones: Spanish Lake, Garden, Monastery, Harbor and International. The most beautiful of the boulevards in the International Zone were Palm and Europe Avenues (which was dominated by the fifty-meter high European Community Pavilion). Catamarans and smaller watercraft took visitors on the Canal of Discovery and across the Spanish Lake (an oxbow of the Guadalquiviru). A cable car transported visitors along a north-south axis. The price of admission included buses that took visitors around the grounds' perimeter. A monorail operated along an interior perimeter. Helicopters could also land directly in the grounds (the heliport was located beyond the Royal Gate).

One of the major attractions was the lookout tower with a walkway winding its way upwards around a central column. From here it was possible to look over the entire exposition grounds. Cultural events were held in the Auditorium, Central Theater, the Lope de Vega Theater, the Maesfranca Theater, Italica (a Roman amphitheater), Sony Square, Palenque (for folk music and at night a huge dance floor) and Parade (where Mediterranean celebrations were held). Every night a multimedia show blazed over the Spanish Lake with lights, smoke, sound effects and lasers combined with fountains and walls of water. After the expo's closing fireworks display, people danced until three in the morning. The exposition grounds were finally closed at four.

The Microclimate Project followed on in the footsteps of World Expo 88 held in Brisbane, Australia, where organizers had had to come to terms with a similar climate. A total of 70,180 trees, 1,425 palm trees and 117,099 other plants and shrubs were planted in the exhibition grounds. The air was refreshed by a massive geodesic ball, fountains, pools, waterfalls and walls of water. The air was also humidified by tiles that sprayed water into the air. Large open spaces were covered with trellises, "sun sails," colonnades and trees. All of these measures reduced the temperature at the exhibition grounds by 8 °C. The British Pavilion was also well prepared for the heat of summer. Adjustable louvers were placed on its roof and a water curtain on the outside of one of its glass walls. The Japanese impressed with their "largest wooded structure in the world." In the pavilion of a unified Germany, a section of the Berlin Wall with its original graffiti captured people's attention. Visitors then passed by sculptures of genius inventors and short films hypothesized about what we might yet expect from their inventions. A section of the Zeppelin airship served as a reminder of its journey to South America that had started in Seville in 1929. The Russian Pavilion (originally planned as the Soviet Pavilion) recalled the staircase in the opening scene of Sergei Eisenstien's film Battleship Potemkin. Important geopolitical changes manifested themselves in the participation of the Baltic States (in a joint pavilion). In contrast, Seville marked the last time Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia would exhibit. The Spanish Pavilion was the largest of all. Its prismatic tower housed an exhibit of Spanish art. The Hungarian Pavilion attracted the eye from afar with its seven towers rising out of its roof. For some, this wooden structure was reminiscent of a church, for others a medieval town, still others a fish or a boat. Portugal exhibited hand-drawn maps and France presented unique historical navigational instruments. Bulgaria came with ancient gold artifacts. Yugoslavia recalled Nikola Tesla, the discoverer of the rotating magnetic pole. The Vatican awed visitors with magnificent works of art. The Chilean Pavilion resembled a boat, which did not really stand out in the flood of pavilions inspired by sails, masts, keels, or even ships' hulls. Chile did however impress with a piece of an Antarctic glacier that it transported to its pavilion.

The theme of discovery in its most modern expression was represented by the seventy-meter high Arianne rocket. The Moviemax Cinema created the illusion of reality with the synchronized movements of the seating, which adjusted to each scene. Another interesting attraction was Sony's giant screen on which passersby could watch themselves. A total of 15,540,628 visitors passed through the gates (66.5% of whom were Spanish); they made a total of 41,814,574 individual visits to the expo. The state-owned firm Cartuja 93 SA was responsible for planning the future use of the exhibition grounds. With a view towards this future use, 22 buildings financed by the state and 16 of the international pavilions were built. The most closely watched project was the Tecnopolis scientific-technical park, which was opened in October of 1993. Above and beyond these plans, another fourteen temporary pavilions were sold and continue to be used (including the Czechoslovak Pavilion). Thanks to the efforts of Cartuja 93, the former exhibition grounds are today the home of academic institutions, sporting and cultural facilities and serve as a place for rest and relaxation.

Jaroslav Halada

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