Expo 70 / Noguchi

In 1970, the World Expo was held in Osaka, Japan. 

The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." The symbol was Tower of the Sun, by Taro Okamoto, which still stands.

Most of the buildings and pavilions have been demolished. 

The main reason for me going to the park was to see Nine Fountains by Isamu Noguchi. He was invited by Kenzo Tange , who was in charge of creating the master plan for the Expo.
The fountains are still there, but they don't seem to be functioning. 

Source: arch2o

Nebula and Comet

You better believe that I took a paddle boat out to get a closer look.



Spaceship

Noguchi also designed a model for the U.S. Pavillion, but it wasn't built.


However, some other forward thinking structures did get built, like the Expo 70 Tower. As mentioned earlier, most have been demolished. 

Unlike some former expo sites, such as New York or Seville, that have been abandoned and forgotten, the Osaka site is Expo Commemoration Park. There is an Expo 70 museum, and a number of other museums, like the Mingei-kan, and the grounds are incredible. I spent a full day there. I'll do another post on the rest of the park. Hopefully it won't take me almost a year, like this one did.