The New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division
Bird's Eye View of Democracity. Silver gelatin print, New York, before 1939.
The New York World's Fair of 1939-40 presented numerous positive visions of a radiant World of Tomorrow. Coming at the end of the Great Depression and on the eve of America's involvement in World War II, the fair celebrated democracy, prosperity, consumerism and faith in technology, and it gave visitors hope for a better, all-American future. The central buildings of the fair were the Trylon and Perisphere; the latter contained a diorama of "Democracity," a city plan designed by Henry Dryfuss, which promised a happy future of ease and prosperity. Mimicking the design of the fair itself, Democracity was built as a semi-circular collection of buildings for work and leisure. This photograph shows the designers' model for the diorama. When the Trylon and Perishpere were demolished at the end of the fair, the 4,000 tons of steel that had been used in their construction was sent to munitions factories as scrap metal for wartime production needs.
The New York World's Fair of 1939-40 presented numerous positive visions of a radiant World of Tomorrow. Coming at the end of the Great Depression and on the eve of America's involvement in World War II, the fair celebrated democracy, prosperity, consumerism and faith in technology, and it gave visitors hope for a better, all-American future. The central buildings of the fair were the Trylon and Perisphere; the latter contained a diorama of "Democracity," a city plan designed by Henry Dryfuss, which promised a happy future of ease and prosperity. Mimicking the design of the fair itself, Democracity was built as a semi-circular collection of buildings for work and leisure. This photograph shows the designers' model for the diorama. When the Trylon and Perishpere were demolished at the end of the fair, the 4,000 tons of steel that had been used in their construction was sent to munitions factories as scrap metal for wartime production needs.
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