Seville Expo '92

Universal exposition in Spain

The Seville Expo '92 was a universal exposition that took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992, on La Isla de La Cartuja (Charterhouse Island), Seville, Spain. The theme for the expo was "The Age of Discovery", celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus reaching the Americas after launching from Seville's port (on the Guadalquivir), and over 100 countries were represented. The total amount of land used for the expo was and the total number of visitors was 41,814,571.

Pavilions at the expo consisted of the Royal Pavilion and the five thematic pavilions Navigation, Discovery, Nature, Environment, and the Fifteenth Century; the flagship Spanish and Andalusian pavilions at the Lake of Spain; the Spanish Autonomous Regions pavilions all along the Lake of Spain; over 100 international pavilions; and numerous corporate pavilions. In particular, the Discoveries Pavilion featured an Omnimax Theatre, where a Spanish government commissioned theme film, Eureka!, made by Greg MacGillivray and Jon Boorstin, based on The Discoverers, by Daniel J. Boorstin was presented. The first IMAX film to use a light weight hand held camera (with a steadicam), it won the principal creative award at the fair. The Pavilion of the Future was constructed in part with post tensioned stone arches. To offset costs by developing nations, and to allow a 'first ever' representation by every South American nation, a special monumental structure, the 'Plaza de Américas' was constructed, a large enclosed Plaza type building in a rustic red colour which also hosted a special Exhibition on the Gold of South America. A 'Plaza de África' was also created to allow maximum participation from developing African states. The HD MAC standard, an early analog high definition television system, was demonstrated at the expo.

Curro was the mascot for the fair. It has the shape of a big white bird with the legs of an elephant, whose long conical beak and crest had the colours of the rainbow. It was created by German designer Heinz Edelmann (who is best known for his work on the 1968 animated film, Yellow Submarine), who also gave it the name Curro, an Andalusian pet form of Spanish male name Francisco. It was presented officially in the Plaza de España of Seville, in a big fest of light and sound on the 20 April 1990, two years before the Fair's inauguration.

The hot Sevillian summer was largely abated by a microfilter water air conditioning system throughout the site, principally along the main avenues and streets, under canopied sections both of tensile fabric and greenery. Visitors were sprayed with cool mist in various locations, and could make use of the numerous fountains and wading pools to cool off.

At the conclusion of the expo, many of the pavilions were dismantled, and today the site is divided between a research and development park called Cartuja 93 and a theme park called Isla Mágica, the 'Magic Island', for General Motors which explored the common stages of life among all nations and people. During the run of the expo, the film also played to an international audience at AmeriFlora '92, an international horticultural exhibition held in Columbus, Ohio. Other exhibits at the U. S. pavilion included the Bill of Rights exhibition, and the Freedom House, a working modern American home that could be visited. Puerto Rico (a U. S. territory) participated in Expo '92 with a separate pavilion from that of the United States. The US$31 million pavilion (equivalent to $31.0 in 1992 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years million in ), which was much larger and more ornate than the U. S. pavilion, was seen as one of several large projects undertaken by pro Commonwealth governor Rafael Hernández Colón to underscore Puerto Rico's cultural and historical links to Latin America, Spain, and Europe. The Wall Street Journal Europe described the Puerto Rican National Pavilion as: "a stunning mix of three geometric 'volumes': a triangle of stone with large perforations based on sentry posts in military fortifications on the island, a modernistic white porcelain pergola, and a sleek copper clad cylinder. Around the pavilion are transplanted palms that grown only on Puerto Rico, Roystonea borinquena. Caribbean coral will decorate the bottom of the reflecting pool around the buildings." After the expo, Puerto Rico sold the pavilion for US$4 million ($4.0 in 1992 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years million in ) to Correos, the Spanish postal service, for use as a training facility. Japan featured the world's largest wooden structure, with a large escalator that took visitors up into the heart of the structure, from where they could descend into the lower levels of the inside the multi level pavilion. Outside the pavilion, one could see a snapshot of Japanese society in the queue, featuring life size photo portraits of Japanese persons in their respective professions. Also featured a three segmented moving anime movie on Japan at the time of Columbus as seen by Don Quixote, and a scale representation of the top floors of a Japanese castle. India. The architecture of the Indian pavilion represented an Indian peacock, with a blue mast for the neck and head, and angled tiles representing the many coloured tail plume. Morocco considered one of the most beautiful pavilions at the expo, this pavilion was styled as a three storied traditional Moroccan Palace Mansion, with jewel like fountain in the centre, and open to the sky atrium and restaurant. This pavilion is one of the few permanent Pavilions and can still be viewed at the expo site today. Italy the Italian Pavilion was one of the largest pavilions and featured a broad exposition on Italian Art, Invention and Discovery. Today it also remains at the expo site as an administrative centre for numerous corporations and businesses. New Zealand The New Zealand pavilion featured the exhibition Treasures of the Underworld, performances by Māori kapa haka groups, and a performance by the opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa on New Zealand Day. Australia featured a curved walkway entrance with a several story rainforest atrium, with tropical palm trees, birds and butterflies from the State of Queensland; a large Aquarium tank representing the ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef, resplendent with live tropical fish and coral; an Australian Gold Exhibition, featuring precious Australian works of jewellery, most notably including the Argyle Library Egg; and the Australian Cinema presentation, the Australian Hexaplex, a moving five screen 360 degree slide and video presentation, set to music, featuring footage from the width and breadth of the Australian nation. A Gift Shop also featured, presented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Gift Shop stores arm. Turkey The highlight of the Turkish pavilion was an interactive promotional software which was presenting Turkish tourism sector, cultural values and economical opportunities. The visitors interacted with this multimedia software via large touchscreen monitors and the application was awarded "the best use of multimedia" award of the expo. Canada The highlight of the Canadian pavilion was the National Film Board of Canada film Momentum, the world's only motion picture presented in 48 frames per second IMAX HD. The pavilion also had an artificial pond surrounding a stage with performances that entertained visitors queuing for the pavilion. In addition to a gift shop and exhibit area, the pavilion also housed the Aurora Borealis restaurant that served Arctic fare from northern Canada. Jamaica The pavilion was sponsored by Jamaican Government and the private sector. The concept for the pavilion was a country bus tour taking you through the Jamaican countryside to a village square surrounded by shop frontages which contained the products of the sponsors. The theme was designed by architect Michael Lake and the artwork and construction was done by Will Robson, Margaret Robson and Umbala at the Magic Toys Workshop in Walderston, Jamaica. [Jamaica Gleaner archives]
Israel The Israeli pavilion represented of the exodus of the Jewish people for two thousand years and its coming together as a result of the creation of the State of Israel.