ABSTRACT
The World’s Fairs and the Olympic Games occupy a significant place in historical scholarship. The fairs, extending from London’s 1851 Great Exhibition to Expo Milano 2015, have drawn a rich literature that covers their origins, staging, contents, spectacle, symbolism, and urban impact (Greenhalgh 1988, 2011; Rydell et al. 2000; Della Coletta 2006; Findling and Pelle 2008; Jackson 2008; Monclús 2009; Geppert 2010; Caramellino et al. 2011; Harvey 2014; Hollengreen et al. 2014). They have been viewed as showcases for art, architecture, and design—as exemplified by Paris’s 1889 Exposition Universelle (Egyptian Revival), Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (City Beautiful movement), and Paris’s 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Art Deco)—and as media for urban regeneration, as illustrated by New York’s 1939–1940 World’s Fair and Shanghai’s Expo 2010 (Smith 2012; Winter 2013) (Figure 27.1).
