Unisphere: Biggest World on Earth, The (1964)

1939 the new york world's fair 19 for the st. Louis Fehr 1889 the Paris international exposition of earliest times markets and fairs had been a gathering place where men came not only to trade but to exchange ideas as civilizations crew as communications improved between nations peoples of the world look for new ways to display their industrial and cultural accomplishments with the coming of the Industrial Revolution the Industrial Fair was born London 1851 over this world of squatting stones and twisting streets rose a strange and unbelievable structure the Crystal Palace it was built for and became the symbol of a London exposition of 1851 the first World's Fair with each succeeding clearance people came from greater distances their buildings introduce new materials and daring engineering and architectural company timekeepers of progress in 1889 there arose over Paris the theme symbol of the Paris International Exposition the eiffel tower designed by the greatest engineer of his time Gustave he fell in position and iron he was called the great tower was bold enough to be controversial a masterpiece of structural engineering it remained a celebrated landmark a symbol of World's Fairs everywhere and one day in March 1963 notables of both France and the United States gathered at Flushing Meadows New York for the beginning of construction of Unisphere themes symbol for a new world fair Robert Moses president of the World's Fair corporation we looked high and low for a challenging symbol the new york world's fair 1964 1965 had to be of the Space Age it had to reflect the interdependence of men on the planet Earth it had to emphasize their achievements and aspirations it had to be the finest shore for all visitors dominating flushing meadow and built to remain as a permanent feature of the park reminding succeeding generations of a pageant of surpassing interests in significance what stronger more durable and more appropriate metal in the record of american constructive accomplishments could be thought of and stainless steel and what builder more imaginative and competent in the united states steel corporation in most uncooperative march weather Renee Megrahi feld grandson of the creator of the Eiffel Tower signaled the start of construction of unisphere the first member to go into place with one section of the USS for chem steel pedicle unisphere the largest representation of our globe ever attempted unisphere the largest stainless steel structure gets built stainless steel why because it is to become a permanent landmark unisphere must be virtually maintenance-free yet remain enduringly beautiful stainless steel alone could do the job decorative Lee used for years by architect and designer it was easy to suggest famous field strength and beauty or a structure so large here's what our engineers want to work on assignment for purposes of monumental beauty only complete a feasible design for a stainless steel structure as high as a 12-story building if Unisphere were to be harmonious when viewed from any angle no diagonal bracing could be used between parallels and meridians take away much breaking and conventional structural members normally get heavier and volume but each structural member of unit sphere must appear light and attractive perched atop a sculptured faith which must adjust lightness and grace unisphere would have to withstand the enormous and changing forces of the wind as well as its own weight the continents and Islands would act like sales and wind pressure could exert forces nearly equal to the weight of the entire structure because unit sphere is open and its land areas irregular in size and position the wind blows on e to the outside or the inside the front of a continent or it's fact no past experience was available to calculate the wind forces because no one had ever built the Unisphere before or anything like to meet this phase of the challenge exhaustive wind tunnel tests were conducted at the University of Maryland from these aerodynamic tests came the data that may design analysis possible the mathematics of analysis holds its own peculiar challenge unisphere had to be completed by april nineteen sixty four high-speed computers were used to solve the files of the problems that would have taken years if accepted manually in the design of this large bridge for instance it was necessary to solve only 35 simultaneous equations in unisphere one problem alone required a solution of 670 simultaneous equations designed analyzed an approved fabrication and construction could begin thousands of different pieces had to be cut form assembled and welded box girder to be channel angle special automatic and manual welding methods were employed an upper meridian section is welded the South Pole is a sample land areas were fabricated and assembled on this turtle shaped fitting table it's duplicated the exact curvature of unit sphere informed the United States Army Engineering Corps contour map mountains and valleys are shown an exaggerated relief in order to achieve effective visualization of television wrapped to protect the famous beauty sections were shipped by rail and highway to gym experience like just the head of the construction of the pedestal 30 us sp1 steel anchor bolts are set and the concrete base poured around first structural number to go into places the South Pole next one of Units fears largest members a lower meridian is carefully fitted into the South Pole and laid across the bed actually welded dirty the lower meridians will support the entire structure right at the site many of the members of field welders in the sub-assembly nicknamed orange peel section to provide support and access a temporary mass is placed along units fears for accident when the structure is complete unit sphere will be self-supporting the mast removed southern hemispheres like a giant bowl it's completed in 83 days Oh the bowl becomes the world of stainless steel for the last flag top section and set in place now edition of the land areas can begin delicate work no job for windy days though because the sections act like big tites not securely held new continents and Islands in place it remains only to raise the three orbit ring weighing three tons each the orbit rings are filled welded into a continuous single piece 450 feet around special care is taken to protect the polished surface to prevent bending each orbit ring is listed by four crane each attached to three points an intricate communication plan and network links all hands Oh precision teamwork means the people orbit rings right slowly and evenly mhm about 50 stainless steel guy wires connect each ring to Unisphere just as folks I a bicycle wheel run to attack them wrong and light they are so difficult to be that the ring seemed to float in space only 162 days after construction was begun unisphere is complete its challenge successfully met Crystal Palace Eiffel Tower Trylon and therapy unisphere now joins these and the other memorable time keepers of profit a spectacular piece of open stainless steel sculpture unit sphere is dedicated to man's aspirations towards peace through mutual understanding and symbolizes his achievements in an expanding universe