Unisphere is a 12-story high, spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth. Located in Flushing Meadows Park in the Borough of Queens, New York City, the Unisphere is one of the Borough's most iconic and enduring symbols.
The Unisphere, commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, was conceived and constructed as the Theme Symbol of the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. The Theme of the World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding" and the Unisphere represented the theme of global interdependence. It was dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe."
Designed by landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke, the Unisphere was donated by the United States Steel Corporation and constructed by that company's American Bridge Division. It is the world's largest global structure, rising 140 feet and weighing 700,000 pounds. Some sources say the Unisphere weighs 900,000 pounds, a figure which includes the additional weight of its 100-ton inverted tripod base. The diameter of the sphere itself is 120 feet, or 36.57 meters. It is constructed of Type 304L stainless steel.
Built on the structural foundation that supported the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair's Perisphere, Unisphere is centered in a large, circular reflecting pool and is surrounded by a series of water-jet fountains designed to obscure its tripod pedestal. The effect is meant to make Unisphere appear as if it is floating in space.
During the fair, dramatic lighting at night gave the effect of sunrise moving over the surface of the globe. Additionally, the capitals of nations were marked by uniquely designed lights that held four bulbs each. When one would burn out, another would rotate in place so that the bulbs would not have to be changed during the two-year run of the Fair. None of these lighting effects are still in operation.
Three large orbit rings of stainless steel encircle Unisphere at various angles. These orbit rings are believed to represent the tracks of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Telstar, the first active communications satellite. In fact, the early design was to have a ring for each of a dozen satellites in place at the time of the Fair. This proved unpractical not only in the number of satellites, but also in the height of their orbits and some had no orbit path as in geostationary satellites, as a result a symbolic number of three was chosen for aesthetic reasons.
In 1989, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation announced a multi-million dollar rehabilitation of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Among the projects was a complete restoration of the Unisphere. Begun in late 1993 and completed on May 31, 1994, the project included numerous structural repairs and removal of years' worth of grime which had accumulated on the steel. The fountains, which had been shut off since the 1970s, were replaced, and new floodlighting was installed.
On May 10, 1995, the Unisphere was given official landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. It is the only officially designated landmark in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
Popular culture references
The Unisphere is featured in the June 2009 ABC Program Earth: 2100 where the host is standing in the temporarily filled reflecting pools. Also, At the beginning of the program, a stylized version can be seen in the year 2100 as rusting away due to the acid rain caused by Humanity.
The Unisphere was climbed in 1976 by George Willig (the so called "Human Fly" who would later climb the World Trade Center), and Jery Hewitt as part of a short film called Third Stone From The Sun, directed by NYU film student, Paul Hornstein and shot by Steve White. Every year at least three people are taken to local hospitals for injuries from trying to climb the Unisphere[citation needed].
The Unisphere has been featured in the 1975 film Angels.
It is featured prominently in bumper shots on the Late Show with David Letterman.
It appears in the opening credits of the Nickelodeon show Kenan & Kel.
It was the finishing point of The Amazing Race 1.
Time Capsule, the greatest hits album by The B-52's, uses the band members in front of the Unisphere on the album cover.
The Beastie Boys pose in front of it in a photo from their album "Licensed to Ill."
Reggae artist Cutty Ranks filmed his music video for his hit single The Stopper (1991) where the Unisphere is seen. Also, hip-hop artists A Tribe Called Quest (Award Tour), Craig Mack (Flava In Ya Ear) and M.O.P. (World Famous) have done music videos in which parts are done in front of the Unisphere.
The album cover for "See You at The Fair" by jazz saxophonist Ben Webster features the Unisphere.
The plot of the Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode "World's Fair" revolves around the murder of a woman found dead at the base of the Unisphere.
The Unisphere is featured in Flight of the Conchords episode "Yoko" in which Bret and Jemaine sing a song to Coco at the Unisphere.
A structure very similar to the Unisphere, called the Monoglobe, (as well as the New York State Pavilion) can be seen in the Liberty City borough of Dukes in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
The show The King of Queens is set in Queens and the opening theme shows Doug and Carrie relaxing near the Unisphere.
A stylized version of the Unisphere appears on the mural that encircles the rotating bottom floor of Innoventions, hosted in the Carousel Theater building at Disneyland, paying homage to the 1964-65 World's Fair, which first hosted the Carousel of Progress, which was moved to the then-new Carousel Theater building at Disneyland in 1967.
A small version of the Unisphere is located in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City's Columbus Circle.
Depeche Mode took promotional photos for Sounds of the Universe album at the Unisphere.
In the 1997 film Men in Black, it was destroyed by a crashing flying saucer.
Jesse Malin's 2004 album The Heat features a drawing of the Unisphere as artwork on the disk. the same drawing also features of T-Shirts sold on the tour in support of that album.
Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck has a composition called "Unisphere" on his "Time Changes" album.
External links
- nywf64.com (1964/1965 New York World's Fair Website) story of Unisphere at the World's Fair
- Unisphere Landmark Designation Report (PDF)
- Unisphere pictures
- Internet Archive: The Unisphere: Biggest World on Earth (1964) Film about the creation of The Unisphere.
- The Unisphere: Biggest World on Earth on Cinemaniacal.
- Internet Archive: New York World's Fair, 1964/03/02 (1964) Newsreel featuring The Unisphere.
Coordinates: 40°44′47″N 73°50′41″W / 40.746426°N 73.844819°W
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