Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY
Built in 1964, Photographed in 2010
The New York State Pavilion was constructed for the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
Designed by architect Philip Johnson, the “Tent of Tomorrow” measures 350 feet by 250 feet, with
sixteen 100-foot columns suspending a 50,000 square-foot roof of multi-colored panels. The popular
exhibit for the state of New York also held three towers, measuring 60 feet, 150 feet, and 226 feet. The
two shorter towers held cafeterias for the fair, and the tallest tower, as the highest point of the fair, held
an observation deck. Fair visitors ascended the towers in the “Sky Streak” capsule elevators.
The New York State Pavilion also included the adjacent “Theaterama,” which exhibited pop art works
by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) and Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) among others. The “Theaterama” also
screened a 360-degree film about the wonders of New York State, from Jones Beach to Niagara Falls.
The space was converted to the Queens Playhouse in 1972 with its first production, George Bernard
Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” opening in October of the same year. The theater continued to operate until 1985
and was renovated and reopened in 1994.
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, often referred to as Flushing Meadow Park, is the second-largest
public park in the City of New York (after Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx., It was created as the site of
the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair and also hosted the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. It is
maintained and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
To view more photographs of the park, visit my flickr slideshow, or thumbnails.
Further reading about the New York State Pavillion:
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/nypavilion/index.htm
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