TWENTIETH-CENTURY WHEELS.

The latest addition to the “Michael Stoll Collection” takes us on the road. A magnificent 1965 Cadillac Hardtop Sedan de Ville, seen here with it’s new owner. It was purchased in Florida and shipped to Bavaria. After some minor conversions to conform to European standards, Michael is now dazzling the inhabitants of Augsburg with his beautiful Hampton Blue automobile.

The Sedan de Ville was designed by Bill Mitchell. He was only 24 when he became Cadillac’s Chief Designer in 1936, and his career at General Motors lasted 42 years. So many classic Cadillacs are his work, including the tail-finned models of the ’50s and early ’60s. (Fins were originally inspired by aircraft design, and were the brainchild of General Motors head designer, Harley Earl.)

The 1965 Cadillacs where the first models for several years to be designed without tail fins. Michael’s car is third down on the left (shown in green here).

The stunning interior features Natural White leather. The absence of door pillars allows an uninterrupted view to the side.

Dashboard detail.

A diagram from the owner’s manual.

There are other small infographics around the car.

Badge history
The crests used on Michael’s car mark one step in the long development of the Cadillac insignia. Below, on the hood.

On the seat belt buckle.

The original 1902 badge contained the coat of arms of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of what is now Detroit. The current abstracted version came into use in 1999.

Image courtesy of General Motors Archive.

I recently purchased this nameplate in an antiques store. Now I only need the other 99.99% of the car.

Information design essentials
Michael’s collection of classic historical information design has been featured in this blog on several occasions. Obviously, we can all learn a lot from looking back at our rich information design heritage. Check out these previous posts:

Wall charts: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-1Sj
Eye model: http://wp.me/p7LiLW-1yx
Flap books: http://wp.me/p7LiLW-IV
Flight thru Instruments: http://wp.me/p7LiLW-Rr
Herbert Bayer’s Geo-Graphic Atlas: http://wp.me/p7LiLW-xO
The Atlas to Alexander von Humboldt’s “Kosmos”: http://wp.me/p7LiLW-jO

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.

NEW YORK ICONS.

These simple geometric shapes were the centerpiece of New York’s 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens. The 610 ft high (186 meters) Trylon was attached by a walkway to the 180 ft diameter (55 meters) Perisphere.

Inside the Perisphere was a diorama by Henry Dreyfuss called “Democracity,” a vision of a city of the future.

Of course, there were many Trylon and Perisphere souvenirs. Pass the salt and pepper, please.

The World’s Fair site.

A promotional poster.

The Trylon Theater on Queens Boulevard was showing movies until 1999.

Tiling below the ticket window.

The Unisphere (from the 1964 World’s Fair) stands on the same site today. I featured it here: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-3D
This is a souvenir model.