World Expo 88

World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a World's Fair held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo was "Leisure in the Age of Technology", and the mascot for the Expo was an Australian platypus named Expo Oz.

The A$625 million fair was the largest event of the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations of the European settlement of Australia. Expo 88 attracted more than 15,760,000 visitors who bought tickets worth A$175 million. The event achieved both its economic aims and very good attendances, was successfully used to promote Queensland as a tourist destination and it spurred a major re-development at the South Brisbane site. The core feature of the site were the international pavilions. Many of the exposition's sculptures and buildings were retained by various entities around the state and are still in use or on display today.

History

Origins

The origins for a world expo for Brisbane commenced soon after James Maccormick MBE OAM, architect for the Australia Pavilion at Expo '67, Expo '70 and Expo '74, was commissioned to do an urban renewal study for Kangaroo Point in the early 70s. It occurred to Maccormick that an exposition would be an ideal catalyst for such a redevelopment, and he later hosted meetings with prominent Queensland business persons and government representatives to such purpose. With the Australian Bicentenary looming in 1988, other Australian capitals sought means by which to celebrate the event, including hosting of a Universal Exposition and/or Olympic Games. Sydney and Melbourne both made representations to the Federal Government for matching dollar for dollar funding for a Universal Exposition in the 1988 bicentennial year, however, citing the costs of the new Parliament House in Canberra, also to be opened in the same year, these proposals were knocked back.

World's fair

A world's fair, world fair, world exposition, or universal exposition (sometimes expo or Expo for short) is a large public exhibition. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in varying parts of the world. The next world's fair is Expo 2017 and is to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Since the 1928 Convention Relating to International Exhibitions came into force, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) has served as an international sanctioning body for world's fairs. BIE-approved fairs are of three types: universal, international, and specialized. They usually last from three weeks to six months.

History

World's fairs originated in the French tradition of national exhibitions, a tradition that culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris. This fair was followed by other national exhibitions in continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

The best-known 'first World Expo' was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations". The Great Exhibition, as it is often called, was an idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, and is usually considered to be the first international exhibition of manufactured products. It influenced the development of several aspects of society, including art-and-design education, international trade and relations, and tourism. These events have resulted in a remarkable form of Prince Albert's life history, one that continues to be reflected in London architecture in a number of ways, including in the Albert Memorial later erected to the Prince. This expo was the most obvious precedent for the many international exhibitions, later called world's fairs, that have continued to be held to the present time.

Expo 2005

Expo 2005 was the World's Fair held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. It was a Specialized International Exhibition under the scheme of the 1972 protocol of the Convention relating to International Exhibitions. Japan has also hosted Expo'70 Osaka (Universal International Exhibition), Expo '75 Okinawa (Special International Exhibition), Expo'85 Tsukuba (Specialized International Exhibition), and Expo'90 Osaka (Horticultural International Exhibition).

Theme

The theme of the Expo was "Nature's Wisdom", with national and corporate pavilions expressing themes of ecological co-existence, renewable technology, and the wonders of nature. In Japanese, this is rendered as Ai-chikyūhaku (愛・地球博), which means (roughly) "Love the Earth Expo," as well as being a play on the name of the host prefecture, 愛知 (Aichi). According to the official website:

Location

The main site of the Expo was a forested area in Nagakute, east of Nagoya, covering an area of about 1.85 square kilometres (460 acres). A smaller area of 0.15 square kilometres (37 acres) nearby, accessible by gondola from the main site near Seto was also part of the Expo. Great care was taken to build the pavilions out of recycled or recyclable materials, to minimize environmental impact on the site, and to provide environmentally friendly transportation to and within the Expo area.

Expo 2010

Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions, the first since 1992. The theme of the exposition was "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as the "next great world city". The Expo emblem features the Chinese character 世 ('world', Chinese "shì") modified to represent three people together with the 2010 date. It had the largest number of countries participating and was the most expensive Expo in the history of the world's fairs. The Shanghai World Expo was also the largest World's Fair site ever at 5.28 square km.

By the end of the expo, over 73 million people had visited – a record attendance – and 246 countries and international organizations had participated. On 16 October 2010, the expo set a single-day record of over 1.03 million visitors.

History

Early participation and hosting