Expo' 70 - forecast of a
feasible future
SINCE the London Exposition in 1851, world expositions have served to illustrate man's technological and in- dustrial advances. They have in addi- tion reflected his progress in construc- tion technology and design.
Each successive fair has made at least one remarkable contribution to the construction world. London had its Crystal Palace whose standardised metal framework and glass plates al- lowed its completion in only six months. Paris in 1889 gave that city its famous Eifel Tower to illustrate that steel framework could safely go as high as 1,000 ft.
More recently, Brussels in 1958 advanced the design of cable-hung roofs.or whole buildings. Seattle in 1962 brought revolving restaurants and the monorail to popularity, while Montreal's Habitat in 1967, though
vastly expensive for a form of system building, pointed the way for North American housing authorities with a room-size adaptation of Europe's flourishing prefabricated housing tech- niques that brought individuality for private houses within a system frame- work.
For the construction industry the significance of world fairs is that they allow bold architectural and structural experiments and necessitate the use of the most advanced methods of com- munication and transportation.
It is in this last sphere, and not in its Disneyland of shapes and colours, that Expo '70 is likely to make a last- ing contribution. The 'operation' of Expo is its most fascinating aspect. It is in fact a computerised future urban environment.
push-button dial telephones, water supply and sewage control even in- stant information about lost children are all made possible by the use of computers.
Information on incoming and out- going visitors is given instantaneously by means of 100 light beam detectors placed at each gate. Devices for auto- matic calculation of visitors provide information on the number of people at the exposition site, especially on the moving walks, in the Expo Hall and the festival plaza.
Computers inform motorists of the conditions at parking lots and the waiting time required for admission. If a fire occurs, the necessary quantity of water is supplied quickly to the site through the computer system that deals with water supply and sewage
The speed of moving sidewalks, control.
Far East BUILDER, April 1970
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