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A Mystery
by Claude IznerThis article relates to Murder on the Eiffel Tower
Although the first world exposition officially occurred in
1851 in London, enormous get-togethers were nothing new. Expositions
originate from markets in medieval times, where masses of people would converge
at major commercial route city centers. Lyons, Frankfurt, and Leipzig were
particularly noted for their early markets. After London's initial exposition,
Paris held expositions in 1867, 1878, 1889 (the setting for Murder on the
Eiffel Tower) and 1900. Other successful expositions occurred in various
locations such as Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona, St. Louis, Turin, and
Philadelphia.
While most of the construction is temporary and is dismantled upon the
conclusion of the event, many structures built for expositions remain in
locations around the world. Just as the 1889 Paris Exposition introduced the
Eiffel Tower,
so other expositions produced similarly famous urban architecture. For example,
Seattle's well-known Space Needle, designed by Edward E. Carlson and John
Graham, is a remnant from the
1962
World's Fair. Memorial Hall, the 1876 Centennial Exposition's primary
building in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, currently houses the
Please Touch Museum. San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International
Exposition 1915, celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal and the
rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, resulted in the
construction of the
Palace of Fine Arts located near the Golden Gate Bridge - and the great
Crystal Palace built for the first world exposition in London stood proudly
until 1936, when it was destroyed by fire.
Historically, world expositions can be roughly divided into
three main eras. The industrialization era (18511938) focused primarily on
introducing new technology; the cultural exchange era (19391991) centered on
humanitarian and cultural themes; while the national branding era (1992present)
aims to promote national images. Current expositions lean toward including
aspects of all three eras and are primarily educational vehicles designed to
promote global understanding. Guidelines are monitored by the
Bureau International des
Expositions ("BEI"), which was established in 1928 to oversee the frequency
and quality of exhibitions. Membership to the BIE currently consists of 98
nations; the next exposition is scheduled to open in Shanghai in 2010.
Photos: Above: The facade of the original Crystal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, and the Space Needle. Left: Contemporary views of the Paris Exposition of 1889.
Filed under People, Eras & Events
This "beyond the book article" relates to Murder on the Eiffel Tower. It originally ran in October 2008 and has been updated for the September 2009 paperback edition. Go to magazine.
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