The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-07-06
WORLDS FAIR BUILDINGS.

WORLDS FAIR BUILDINGS.
rHE GREATEST WONDER OF THE
FAIR ARE THE BUILDINGS.
Apparent Permanence and super
lority of Architecture That Has
Never Been Attempted by Amy Ex-
posi- tiOn-The Art Exhibit.
jackson Park, Special Correspond
once.-The ordinary spectator who Wis
It's the exposition often forgets or per-
Aaps in walking around the grounds
tails to have recalled to his conscious
ness that the greatest show Of the ex-
position from an artistic and architec-
tural standpoint are the buildings them
selves. They embody all that is best
IN modern art as modelled upon classic
styles and give the impression to those
who stop to realize how great is their
beauty and their grandeur the impress
1iOn Of placid and eternal solidity like
chat OF the ancient Egyptian temples
which have outlived even the Coliseum
of the Eternal City. In respect to the
apparent permanence of character, they
possess a superiority which was not
sven attempted in the architecture Ct
sny other modern exposition This is
ahe verdict Of the best artists with
whom I have conversed native to two
continents. The immense size Of these
buildings and the grand displays made
beneath their roofs seem to dwarf ill
other worlds fairs by comparison. For
signers that have talked with freely
admit that for expenditure of money
In erecting the largest buildings in
the worlds history and in conducting
Ill things upon a gigantic scale, the
Yankees have no rivals. Many of the
foreign exhibitors, for instance, the Sill
perintendent of the Krupp exhibit,
freely state that they do not believe
that any other nation will attempt
worlds fair to rival this in the next
generation, because it would be :impos-
Gible for them to raise the necessary
sineWs OF war.
The space occupied by the buildings
Of this fair is over twice as much as
that occupied by the Paris exposition
OF 1880. The areas covered by the
different expeditions since 1851 are as
follows: London, 1851, 81 acres;
Paris, 1855, p II acres; London, 1862,
a3 IL acres; Paris, 1867, 81 acres; vi
emma, 1873, 40 acres; Philadelphia, 1876,
% acres; Paris, 1878, 60 acres; Paris,
1889, Is IL acres; Chicago, 1893, $50
acres. There are
80 Foreign Nations
represented at this exposition against
81 at the Paris exposition. Every
thing else is on an equally gigantic
scale as compared with all previous ex-
positions. -....
To realize the wonderful beauty and
greatness of the architecture of this OK
position, one has but to stand in the
great court of honor facing the gilded
statue of the republic, with the great
perislyle in it's rear and the buildings
ON every hand, the like Of which the
eye Of man never before looked upon.
The Greek and Roman styles of archi-
lecture predominant everywhere with
their graceful columns and magnificent
ArchWays, glorious in their symmetry,
grand in their proportions and music
to the soul in their harmony. In the
words Of one Of the most eminent
American art critics: II do not be-
Neve that there can be any question
but that this is the most imposing
spectacle ever conceived in architec-
ture. Look over Roman glory in mar-
BILE, Egyptian grandeur and massive
ness, Greek perfection in proportion,
and harmony and ornamcntation. Moth
Ing equals this, because of the variety,
size, strength and grandeur, in so far
as it strikes the eye of the behO1der.
Perhaps Babylon in her prime might
have eQualled tive have no means
OF knowing. Nothing that have read
or heard of could equal the scene
from the great court, the point of ar
"Ahitectural beauty and vastness and
variety"
The same authority contrasts the Per-
iian exposition architecture with that
of the Columbian exposition in the sOl-
lowing terms: "The buildings Of the
two great expositions may be said to
perSOnify the geniuSeS Of the two great
nations. The architecture of the Paris
exposition was light and graceful, like
her art and like her people. 1t seemed
to catch and crystalline into stone the
gay effervescing and brilliantly colored
life of Ia belle Paris. The architecture
gave the idea Of airiness, evanescence
built to last a day, highly colored and
Drnamcnted, but lifeless when the gay
&hrOny Of pleasure seekers had desert
cd it's courts, corridors and boulevards
1T could have no permanent effect upon
the architecture Of the nation beca Use
1T was clearly built for one purpose
70 show what gay France could display
to the comfort and luxuriance Of The
leisured and the cultured. When that
was done, the beholder gathered the
idea that the architecture was to pass
away with the purpose which gave it
life and being. Not such has been our
purpose in erecting the buildings CT
the Columbian exposition. The Ameri-
cans have also produced an architec-
ture characteristic Of their people,
Everything here gives the idea Of per-
manence, massiveness and sOlidity.
These buildings typify the glory and
strength of youth-tne youth Of the
American nation, just beginning to
emerge into manhood. These struc-
lures are manly in the severely classical
Greek and Roman styles of architec-
ture, and are monumental in their eff
fects. Here we depend for nothing
upon the effect that great throngs or
gay colors might add to the ensemble