Trylon and Perisphere

The Trylon and Perisphere were the central structures, known as the Theme Center, of the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940. Connected to the Trylon, which stood 700 feet tall, by what was at the time the world's longest escalator, the Perisphere was a tremendous sphere, 180 feet in diameter. The sphere housed a diorama called "Democracity" which, in keeping with the fair's theme "The World of Tomorrow", depicted a utopian city-of-the-future. Democracity was viewed from above on a moving sidewalk, under movies displayed on the sides of the sphere. After exiting the Perisphere, visitors descended to ground level on the third element of the Theme Center, the Helicline, a long spiral ramp that partially encircled the Perisphere.

The Trylon and the Perisphere became symbols of the 1939 World's Fair, reproduced on promotional materials and serving as the fairground's focal point. [Harrison, Helen. "Stuart Davis' 'World of Tomorrow.' "American Art", Vol. 9, No. 3. (Autumn, 1995), pp. 96-100.] The United States issued a postage stamp in 1939 depicting the Trylon and Perisphere (pictured).

The Perisphere was designed by architects Wallace Harrison and J. Andre Fouilhoux, with the interior exhibit by Henry Dreyfuss. The structures were originally built in Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York, but both structures were subsequently razed and scrapped for use in World War II armaments.

The concept of the Perisphere was revisited in the later 1964/1965 New York World's Fair with the Unisphere, as well as with Spaceship Earth at Epcot in Walt Disney World.

The word Perisphere was coined using the Greek prefix peri-, meaning all around, about, or enclosing, surrounding. The word Trylon was coined from the phrase "triangular pylon". Fact|date=June 2008

In the DC Comics comic book series "All-Star Squadron", the Squadron used the Perisphere as their headquarters.

To cynics or literalists, the Trylon and the Perisphere together looked like a gigantic golf ball that had fallen off its tee. Fact|date=June 2008

In the 2004 movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the two structures are briefly seen in an arctic region.

The Trylon is mentioned in the Groucho Marx song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" and the Aimee Mann song "Fifty Years After the Fair".

References

Further reading

* Cohen, Barbara. "Trylon and Perisphere". Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1989.
* Gelernter, David. "1939: The Lost World of the Fair". The Free Press, New York, 1995.
* Newhouse, Victoria. "Wallace K. Harrision, Architect". Rezzoli International Publications Inc. New York, 1989.
* "New York World's Fair, 1939." "Architectural Forum", June 1939. vol. 70, pp. 393-462.
* "The World's Fair will put on a 6-minute show inside its perisphere." "Life", Aug. 1938. pp. 55-58.
* "Aerodynamics of the Perisphere and Trylon at World's Fair." "American Society of Civil Engineers", Vol. 65 Issue 5, 1938. pp.887-906.

External links

* [http://www.lib.umd.edu/ARCH/exhibition/1939-40_ny/gallery1.html Images of the Perisphere, from the University of Maryland World's Fair Ephemera and Graphic Materials collections]