Week 9: International Pavilions

United States' pavilion, 1888. Image from www.todocoleccion.net, posted by Pandorashop.

The Exposició Universal de 1888 did not include official pavilions for visiting nations separate from the central fair buildings. Many nations had their own sections or pavilions within the fair buildings themselves, the largest of which were in the Gran Palau de la Indústria (Grand Palace of Industry), the fair's biggest building. There were, however, separate buildings for private businesses or corporations, which sometimes purported to represent certain countries. I will here present the distinctions between nations' official portrayals of themselves and their portrayals by others, using as examples two American exhibits (the official hall and the American Soda Water pavilion) and two Philippine exhibits (the official hall and the pavilion of the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas).

Philippines' pavilion, 1888. Image from www.todocoleccion.net, posted by Pandorashop.

The official representations of both the United States and the Philippines, at that time a Spanish colony, are fairly similar. The Philippines' space is smaller, and thus more cramped-looking, but both are fairly organized exhibitions of each political entity. Both halls, presumably, display the best of each territory, organized to educate visitors to that end. From a design standpoint, they are not remarkable.

American Soda Water pavilion, 1888. Image from www.urbanity.es, posted by Juanjo.

The American Soda Water pavilion and the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas (a Spanish company) pavilion, in contrast to the official ones, portray each land in a very different light. The American Soda Water pavilion is modest but stately, and up-to-date with the latest styles in Beaux-Arts architecture. It does not put forward much of an image of America besides that of a nation very much in line with those of Europe at the time. The Tabacos de Filipinas pavilion, on the other hand, represents the Philippines in a manner much less dignified than the official display: the pavilion is a large waterside hut made of wood and thatch, which is remarkably out of place with the rest of the fair's pavilions and buildings. This depiction of the Philippines would have undoubtedly helped rationalize Spanish colonization and commercial exploitation of the isles.

Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas pavilion, 1888. Image from www.urbanity.es, posted by Juanjo.

Week 8: Ground Plan

"Plano General de la Exposición Universal de Barcelona." From Exposición Universal de Barcelona, 1888: Catálogo Oficial, especial de España.

The ground plan of the 1888 Exposició Universal owes its form to the extant urban framework more than to any other source. The majority of the Exposition took place in the recently constructed Parc de la Ciutadella, with an adjacent grand avenue serving as the main entrance axis leading into the park. With the exception of the symbolic destruction of the ruins of the monarchist fortress in the park's center to make way for new structures (which would have likely happened regardless of the Exposition), the plan of the park itself was not altered. Some buildings that were already there were used for the Exposition (the Museu Martorell and the Umbracle, for example), while new buildings were built in places logical given the park's preëxisting layout. Given this lack of intervention in creating the fair's ground plan, the most fruitful examinations lie in discussions of the few changes to the park that were made, and the locations of specific buildings relative to each other and to the overall plan.

"Plano General de la Exposición Universal de Barcelona, Setiembre 1887-Abril 1888." From Exposició Universal 1888: Diari Oficial de l'Exposició, volume I, via Arxiu Municipal Contemporani de Barcelona, Ajuntament de Barcelona. Note that the dates given are the predicted ones, not the actual ones; this does not depict the final plan of the Exposition itself.

One of the major changes to accommodate the fair was, as mentioned above, the destruction of the last remaining ruins of the Ciutadella, the fortress built after Barcelona's conquest in 1714 to repress the citizenry and demolished to make way for the park after the Revolution of 1868. Earlier plans of the fair, made during preparatory stages, clearly denote a space in the center for the "restos de la Ciudadela" (ruins of the Ciutadella).

The ruins of the Ciutadella, before the Exposition. From El Pais.

However, by the opening of the fair what was left of the Ciutadella had been replaced with a "fuente mágica" (magic fountain) and various pavilions representing government services: "jurados" (judges), "correos" (mail), "sanitario" (health), and "bodegas" (storehouses or possibly wineries), along with a larger "pabellón real" (royal pavilion). As powerful a symbol as the destruction of the Ciutadella and its replacement with a public park and an Exposition promoting Catalonia was for the people of Barcelona, powerful, too, is the central location of Spanish state pavilions on the site of its remains. This may have been a symbolic victory won by the central government; a demand in exchange for supporting the fair financially after private organizers and the city of Barcelona failed to come up with the money to spare the city and nation embarrassment without intervention. Though the fair should have been almost entirely focused on Catalonia, it was the buildings of the Spanish central government that stood in the park's center, directly in front of the main attraction: the enormous Palau de la Indústria (Palace of Industry).

Antoni Gaudí. Pavilion of the Companyia Transatlàntica. From Wikimedia Commons.

The other major innovation as far as the ground plan itself was concerned was the addition of a smaller section on the waterfront, connected to the park by a bridge that spanned the railroad tracks. This had been a very marginalized area of Barcelona, severed from the rest of the city by the train tracks. The Exposition literally bridged that divide, reconnecting the city with the sea. This, too, was symbolic, as Barcelona's maritime prowess had decreased greatly over the previous centuries—the transition of the focus of global trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic from the 16th century on, and the Mediterranean dominance of the Ottomans and their sanctioned pirates meant that Barcelona was no longer at one of Europe's (or even Spain's) most advantageous commercial nodes. This waterfront section, too, can be seen as figurative attempt to reclaim and reconquer Catalonia's glorious past, just as the Parc de la Ciutadella was.

The locations of the fair's buildings are also telling. As mentioned above, the Spanish state's buildings were in the middle of the park, quite possibly as a condition of its financial support. The waterfront section, logically, housed naval buildings and those of maritime companies such as the Companyia Transatlàntica, whose temporary pavilion was designed by Antoni Gaudí. The Palaces of Science and Fine Arts stood opposite each other on either side of the Saló de Sant Joan, the main entrance avenue, with the Agricultural Palace along the main avenue running perpendicular and along the park. These, clearly, were considered by the planners to be among the most important structures. The most important, however, was the Palau de la Indústria, a massive hall devoted to industrial exhibitions from all over Spain and around the world. The largest structure by far, the fan-shaped Palau de la Indústria was located just before the bridge to the waterfront, at the end of the park farthest from the main entrance: it was meant to be the culminating moment of the visitor's experience, an awesome display of Catalonia's and Spain's industrial potential (indeed, the Spanish government was given the most centrally located hall).

To see the plan of the Exposició Universal de Barcelona in a broader urban context, see: http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/660