SENDING OUR ARTIFACTS INTO THE FUTURE.

Queens cache
The New York World’s Fair site in Flushing Meadows Park has already featured a few times in this blog. Of course, it’s home to the magnificent Unisphere (1964/65): https://wp.me/p7LiLW-3D
And on that same site was the Trylon and Perisphere (1939), another favorite icon of mine: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-2fK

Perhaps less well known is the presence of two time capsules, one from each of the two World’s Fairs, which are 50 feet (15.2 meters) below a circular slab. The 1965 capsule is shown above.

Photograph by Gary Dunaier.

This location was once at the center of the 1939 and 1964/65 Westinghouse Pavilions. The capsules will (hopefully) be opened in 6939, five thousand years after the first New York World’s Fair. Below, the 1938 Capsule is about to be lowered into the shaft, and a diagram of the site (with some considerable exaggeration of the scale of the capsule and shaft).

The objects inside the metal capsules (which were intended to give an idea of American life) are preserved in inert gas. A record of the contents was sent to museums and libraries around the world. This replica of Time Capsule 1 is in the Heinz History Center, in Pittsburgh.

Visitors to the 1964/65 Fair could sign a guest book which was photographed onto microfilm and placed inside the capsule.

Shorter term
Harold Davisson did not create his time capsule collection for a future civilization, but for his grandchildren, so they could see first-hand all the things that were part of his life in 1975. However, he lived until 1999 (when he was 91), so he was able to describe the contents to them in person. The date set for the capsule to be opened is 2025. 

Harold included 5,000 assorted items including a car (a Chevrolet Vega). He wanted to get his time capsule into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest, and he achieved that in 1977, but then an argument began. The Crypt of Civilization in Atlanta (which was sealed in 1940) is larger, although Davisson felt that as it’s a sealed room, it is not the equivalent of a buried time capsule. By the way, the Atlanta chamber (shown below) will not be opened until 8113.

So to make sure of being the largest, Harold built a second capsule in 1983, above the first, underneath a concrete pyramid. He put another (well-used) car in this one, along with other assorted things.

Future car
In 1957, a new gold and white Plymouth Belvedere, with various items inside it, was placed in a vault in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Residents of the city guessed what the population would be in 2007, and the idea was that after the vault was opened, the winner would get the Belvedere.

Unfortunately, the vault had flooded over the years and ruined the car. But Tulsa has another time capsule car, a Plymouth Prowler, which was put into an above-ground vault in 1998. That one will be opened in 2048.

UNUSUAL IDEAS FOR BUILDINGS (SOME OF WHICH WERE BUILT).

OBJECT-DRIVEN
Here in Ohio, we have a giant picnic basket building. It was the headquarters of the Longaberger Company until 2016, and is a surprisingly accurate representation of their Medium Market Basket. Last year it was sold to a developer.
Photograph by Derek Jensen.

The National Fisheries Development Board (India) has an interesting regional office. It’s in Hyderabad.

The Piano House in Huainan, China is built in the shape of a piano and violin. It’s currently a showroom for the district of Shannan.

OVER-SIZED

THE ULTIMATE HOME
This might look like a cathedral, but it’s a very large house. For one person.

William Beckford’s extravagant Fonthill Abbey was also known as “Beckford’s Folly,” and unlike some of the other examples below, it was actually constructed. Work began in 1796, and was completed in 1813. Beckford lived on his own in the house and only used one bedroom. Guests would have been quite impressed entering through the Great Western Hall.

Unfortunately, the 270-foot tower (82 meters) collapsed in 1807 (shown below). A replacement tower of the same height took six years to build, but it also collapsed. So over the following seven years, another tower (much shorter at 145 feet tall, 44 meters) was built. A footnote: after Beckford sold the house, the third tower collapsed too.

RESIDENTIAL SKYSCRAPER
Antilia is a much more recent example of an extravagant private residence. This 27-story, 568-foot tall, house (173 meters) is owned by Mukesh Ambani, and opened in 2010. It’s in Mumbai, which has a lot of poverty, and consequently the house drew considerable criticism. At a cost of around $2 billion, it’s the world’s most expensive residential building. A few items for a real estate listing: Nine elevators. Three helipads. Over 400,000 square feet of space. Parking for 168 cars.

Photograph by A.Savin.

GERMANIA
Adolf Hitler had some big ideas for Berlin. His new capital, Welthaupstadt Germania (World Capital Germania), was designed to celebrate his victory in World War II. Albert Speer was the architect of the grand plan, which was (obviously) never realized. The colossal Volkshalle would have been over 656 feet (200 meters) high with room inside for 180,000 people.

The Arch of Triumph, at around 330 feet (100 meters) tall, would have been large enough for the Arc de Triomphe (Paris) to fit inside it’s opening. The structure would have shown the names of the two million Germans who died in World War I.

NEWTON FANTASY
Étienne-Louis Boullée designed a cenotaph for Isaac Newton in 1784. It was intended to be an impressive 500 feet (150 meters) tall. Holes in the dome would give the illusion of stars in the night sky.

SOVIET SKYSCRAPER
Work on Moscow’s gigantic Palace of the Soviets began in 1937, but was stopped in 1941 because of the German invasion.

It would have surpassed the Empire State Building with a height of 1,624 feet (495 meters).

MEGA-ARCH
The stainless steel Gateway Arch in St.Louis is the world’s tallest arch at 630 feet (192 meters).

Photograph by Daniel Schwen.