Pavilions of Japan and France

Located in the Pavilions of the Pacific Basin area, the Japanese Pavilion was comprised of a lagoon, terraced Oriental gardens, and a few buildings. Invoking Japanese traditions ranging from 14^th century feudal architecture to Samurai houses to Buddhist temples, the buildings are authentically Japanese. The Pavilion includes a pagoda as well as a drum bridge spanning the lagoon. These two quintessential Japanese architectural traditions continue to support the accuracy of representation of this pavilion. Furthermore, the fact that every single material, including all of the wood for the buildings and all of the rocks found in the garden, was shipped from Japan creates a very realistic image of Japanese architectural traditions, and consequently, Japanese culture. Inside of these buildings, an exhibit demonstrating the process of silk making as well as precious Japanese documents brought over from Japan were found.

A few blocks away, in the Foreign Pavilions area sat the French pavilion. Divided into three main parts, the pavilion strove to represent the Fine Arts, Fashion, and Tourism of France. Fine Arts are represented vis-à-vis sculptures – including Rodin’s “The Shadow” and Bourdelle’s “Carplaux” – tapestries, and thirty canvases. The Fashion section boasted a fine collection of the Musee Carnavalet’s dresses, dating from the Eighteenth century to the current time of the fair. Lastly, the Tourism section displayed large-scale French maps that pinpointed different art objects and historically important sites throughout the country.

While the Japanese pavilion emphasized architectural traits, the French pavilion highlighted different aspects of culture. While it is important to consider the fact that these two countries are on different continents and have quite contrasting histories, traditions, and cultures, the varied presentation of culture is nonetheless intriguing. In thinking about the differences, the Japanese pavilion sets a stage for the viewer to engage with the various aspects of Japanese landscape architecture, creating a unique experience for the visitor that is similar to a Disneyworld effect, in that the viewer feels as though he or she is in a completely different time and place than on an island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. France’s method of transporting the viewer is achieved indoors, by recreating the museum and salon settings that are quite common and quintessential of French culture. For France, art objects, dresses, and maps play pivotal roles in introducing French culture. Thus, these alternate methods of representing countries highlights the complexities of recreating cultural experiences, a critical element to any World’s Fair.

Works Cited:

Official Guidebook, Golden Gate International Exposition on San Francisco Bay, 1939.

Treasure Island Plan

http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/ggiemap

The ground plan of the Golden Gate International Expo is more like that of an island plan. Treasure Island was built with the purpose of staging the exposition, and as such, it makes sense that it was very carefully thought out in terms of traffic flow and ultimately, layout.

In order to get to Treasure Island, one needs to either take the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge if traveling by car, or a ferry or boat of sorts if coming in by water. Once one gets on the island, the Administration Building and the Yerba Buena Club are easily accessible on the right, off of The Esplanade. If one goes on the Avenue of Palms instead, it is easy to see the Portals of the Pacific framing the tall Tower of the Sun standing in the middle of the Court of Honor. Emanating from this Court are the long exhibition halls. Surrounding those halls are the different exhibition sites that are less uniformed. And, furthest away from the bridge entrance is significant space that was used as a parking lot. The Golden Gate International Exposition was laid out in a manner that acknowledged the paths visitors would take to arrive, and process throughout, the site.

What is highlighted through this ground plan is the idea that this was a site uniquely used for this exposition. The entire island was built to hold this fair, and so in thinking about laying all of the components out and organizing the different structures, there are a few key takeaways. First of all, the idea that the Yerba Buena Club was conveniently located near the entrance made it accessible for the esteemed visitors of the fair to find their way to the club. Secondly, placing the parking lot on the opposite end of the entrance allowed for less congestion near the actual fair grounds. The idea of the parking lot as a whole represents the more widespread use of automobiles during this time, and the fact that it was necessary to make a trip out to the Golden Gate International Expo – it was not simply a walk away. Lastly and most compelling, the plans clearly indicate the fact that the Tower of the Sun served as the center point of the plan. Not only was it the tallest building, it was in a location that was very visible from around the Bay, and it served as the center of the Court, from which the largest exhibition halls stemmed. Additionally, the fact that the Portals of the Pacific conditioned the visitor for the Tower of the Sun (by framing it) confirms this idea of the Tower’s importance to Treasure Island. Thus, the plan is quite congruent with some aforementioned ideas in previous blog posts concerning the Golden Gate International Expo.

Works Cited:

James, Jack, and Earle Weller. Treasure Island : "The Magic City". San Francisco, CA:

Pisani Printing and Publishing Company, 1941. Print.

Official Guidebook, Golden Gate International Exposition on San Francisco Bay, 1939.