Expo 1970
| EXPO Osaka 1970 | |
|---|---|
Kiyonari Kikutake's Landmark Tower, Osaka Expo, 1970
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| Overview | |
| BIE-class | Universal exposition |
| Category | First category General Exposition |
| Name | Expo 70 |
| Motto | Progress and Harmony for Mankind |
| Building | Symbol Zone's space frame |
| Area | 330 hectares (820 acres) |
| Visitors | 64.218.770 |
| Participant(s) | |
| Countries | 78 along with 4 international organizations |
| Location | |
| Country | Japan |
| City | Osaka |
| Venue | Suita |
| Coordinates | 34°48′31″N 135°32′6.8″E / 34.80861°N 135.535222°E |
| Timeline | |
| Awarded | May 11, 1966 |
| Opening | March 15, 1970 |
| Closure | September 13, 1970 |
| Universal expositions | |
| Previous | Expo 67 in Montreal |
| Next | Seville Expo '92 in Seville |
| Specialized Expositions | |
| Previous | HemisFair '68 in San Antonio |
| Next | Expo 71 in Budapest |
| Horticultural expositions | |
| Previous | Paris 1969 in Paris |
| Next | Floriade (Netherlands) 1972 in Amsterdam |
Expo '70 (日本万国博覧会 Nihon Bankoku Hakuran-kai) was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan, between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as Osaka Banpaku (大阪万博 Ōsaka Banpaku). This was the first world's fair held in Japan.
The master plan for the Expo was designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange helped by 12 other Japanese architects who designed elements within it. Bridging the site along a north/south axis was the Symbol Zone. Planned on three levels it was primarily a social space which had a unifying space frame roof.
Osaka was chosen as the site for the 1970 World Exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in 1965. 330 hectares in the Senri Hills outside Osaka had been earmarked for the site and a Theme Committee under the chairmanship of Seiji Kaya was formed. Kenzo Tange and Uzo Nishiyama were appointed to produce the master plan for the Expo. The main theme would be Progress and Harmony for Mankind. Tange invited 12 other architects to elucidate designs for elements within the master plan. These architects included: Arata Isozaki for the Festival Plaza mechanical, electrical and electronic installations; and Kiyonori Kikutake for the Landmark Tower.
Two main principles informed the idea of the master plan. The first was the idea that the wisdom of all the peoples of the world would come together in this place and stimulate ideas; the second was that it would be less of an exposition and more of a festival. The designers thought that unlike previous expositions they wished to produce a central, unifying, Festival Plaza where people could meet and socialise. They called this the Symbol Zone and covered it and the themed pavilions with a giant space frame roof.
The designers liked the idea that like the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, the roof of the Symbol Zone could be a unifying entity for the expo. They did not want the constraint imposed by the London Exhibition of having everything contained under one roof, so the space frame contained only the Festival Plaza and themed pavilions. Tange compared the concept to a tree. The idea was that although the national pavilions were like individual flowers they needed to be connected to the whole via branches and a trunk. Thus the Symbol Zone became the trunk and the moving pedestrian walkways and sub-plazas became the branches. These elements were reinforced with colour, with the trunk and branches in plain white and the pavilions in their own colours that were determined by the national architects.
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