Legacy
After the exposition ended in 1934, Robert Bartlett purchased five of the homes, the Wieboldt-Rostone House, the House of Tomorrow, the Florida Tropical House, the Cypress Log Cabin, and the Armco-Ferro House, loaded them on barges and floated them across Lake Michigan to Beverly Shores, Indiana. The original homes have survived the last 75 years on the shores of Lake Michigan and are being restored through a partnership between the National Park Service, Indiana, the Indiana Landmarks, and private individuals. [1] As visitors passed through the homes during the fair, many bought plans and erected the designs in other states.
Also at the close of the exposition, in November 1934, the Lumber Industries House (designed by architect Ernest A. Grunsfeld, Jr.) was sold to Harry Joseph. A Chicago lumber company executive, Joseph had the home taken down and shipped to his estate in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, where it was reassembled. [2]
Art Deco, short for the French Arts Décoratifs, and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s, and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including how people look, Art Deco has influenced bridges, buildings, ships, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects like radios and vacuum cleaners.
The World's Columbian Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park, was a large water pool representing the voyage Columbus took to the New World. Chicago had won the right to host the fair over several other cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), celebrated the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation, and its motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Adapts", trumpeting the message that science and American life were wedded. Its architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other.
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a period of time, typically between three and six months.
Beverly Shores is a town in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana, United States, about 36 miles (58 km) east of downtown Chicago. The population was 613 at the 2010 census.
Walter Dorwin Teague was an American industrial designer, architect, illustrator, graphic designer, writer, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Dean of Industrial Design", Teague pioneered in the establishment of industrial design as a profession in the US, along with Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss and Joseph Sinel.
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design, it was used in railroad locomotives, telephones, toasters, buses, appliances, and other devices to give the impression of sleekness and modernity.
The California Science Center is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California. Billed as the West Coast's largest hands-on science center, the California Science Center is a public-private partnership between the State of California and the California Science Center Foundation. The California Natural Resources Agency oversees the California Science Center and the California African American Museum. Founded in 1951 as the "California Museum of Science and Industry", the Museum was remodeled and renamed in 1998 as the "California Science Center". The California Science Center hosts the California State Science Fair annually.
The Great Lakes Exposition was held in Cleveland, Ohio, in the summers of 1936 and 1937, along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. The fair commemorated the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, it highlighted the progress that had been achieved in the Great Lakes region in the last 100 years and indicated the path for future progress. Covering over 135 acres of Cleveland's lakefront, it featured numerous attractions, including rides, sideshows, botanical gardens, cafes, art galleries, and much more. Similar to the Chicago World's Fair, the exposition also wanted to expose visitors to other countries' cultures, celebrate American industry, and promote local businesses. Although the Great Lakes Exposition was not as much of a world fair as the Chicago World's Fair was, the exposition drew 4 million visitors in its first season, and 7 million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937—a total of 13 million visitors.
The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large central urban park, which had also been the site of the earlier Panama-California Exposition in 1915.
Richard W. Bock was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Florida Tropical House is a beach house located on Lake Michigan's shoreline in Beverly Shores, Indiana. It was built in 1933 as part of the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition at the 1933 World's Fair in nearby Chicago. Today it is part of the Century of Progress Architectural District, a historic district.
The Century of Progress Architectural District is a historic district in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The district is on Lake Shore Drive within the Indiana Dunes National Park. The district comprises five buildings, all from the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition of the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair which took place in Chicago. Intended to display the future of housing, the Century of Progress Homes reflect a variety of designs, experimental materials and new technologies. On June 30, 1986, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Beverly Shores–Century of Progress Architectural District.
The Armco-Ferro House, in the Century of Progress Architectural District in Beverly Shores, Indiana, was originally constructed for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. "The ... Exposition opened in May of 1933 directed by the theme of science and its role in industrial advancement. Within the Home and Industrial Arts Group were model houses, which featured modern materials, building methods and innovative home appliances, including the Armco-Ferro-Mayflower, Wieboldt-Rostone and Florida Tropical houses, and the House of Tomorrow. All utilized new techniques of design, construction and prefabrication in an attempt to bring the out-of-date housing industry in line with more efficient manufacturing practices such as those used by the auto industry." The Home and Industrial Arts Group was the most successful venue of the Exposition. The Armco-Ferro House was designed by Robert Smith, Jr., of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the only remaining example from the exposition that met the Fair Committee's design criteria; a house that could be mass-produced and was affordable for an American family of modest means..
From research completed by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS): The Ferro Enamel Corporation, one of the two major sponsors for the ... house, was formed in 1930 by a merger between the Ferro Enameling Company and the Ferro Enamel and Supply Co. The idea of using porcelain enamel for residential construction was introduced by Bob Weaver, president of the newly formed company. Shortly after the merger, Charles Bacon Rowley, architect, designed a four-person house with Ferro-Enamel shingles that the company erected in Cleveland, Ohio, in July 1932.31 Despite the innovative use of ferroenamel as a cladding material, the house was built using conventional wood construction. The first porcelain-enameled frameless steel house was completed ... in South Euclid, Ohio ... Like the Armco-Ferro house, this house was designed by Robert Smith, Jr., and was built by Insulated Steel Corporation; ... In 1932, the American Rolling Mill Company (Armco) ... built a second porcelainenameled frameless steel house ... using Robert Smith, Jr. as architect. The Ferro Enamel Corporation and the Insulated Steel Construction Company collaborated with Armco, thus setting the stage for the partnership that made the Century of Progress home possible.
The Wieboldt-Rostone House is a historic building in the Century of Progress Architectural District in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The home was built in 1933, framed in steel, and clad with an artificial stone called Rostone. Billed as never needing repairs, it only lasted without renovations until the 1950s.
The House of Tomorrow is a historic building in the Century of Progress Architectural District in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The house was originally part of Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition. Designed as the house of the future, this house included its own airplane hangar. Glass walls offered views from every angle and so taxed the experimental air conditioning system that the cooling system failed.
Both the Cypress Log Cabin and the Cypress Guest house are historic buildings in the Century of Progress Architectural District in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The houses were sponsored by Southern Cypress Manufacturer's Association, Jacksonville, Florida. The Cypress Cabin was purchased by the Zimmernam Estate represented by Zimmerman, Saxe and MacBride, Chicago architects. It was planned to move the house to St. Joseph, Michigan, where it was to be a summer home near the Bolton exhibit building of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The move included the Cabin, Guest House and other landscape elements. That move never happened and Robert Bartlett trucked the Cabin and Guest House to Beverly Shores. Bartlett owned the property until 1942, when sold it to Ida J. Osterburg. The house changed owners several times, until it was purchased by the National Park Service in October 1970, becoming part of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
George Frederick Keck (1895-1980) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago, Illinois. He was later assisted in his practice by his brother William Keck to form the firm of Keck & Keck.
Robert Paul Schweikher (1903–1997) was a mid-century modern architect from Denver, Colorado.
Wolfgang Hoffmann (1900–1969) was an Austrian-American architect and designer active in the American modernism movement between 1926 and 1942. His reputation was overshadowed by that of his father, the architect and designer Josef Hoffmann, and ex-wife, Josefine Pola Weinbach Hoffmann, better known as Pola Stout.
