World Expo 88
World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo was "Leisure in the Age of Technology", and the mascot for the Expo was an Australian platypus named Expo Oz.
The A$625 million fair was the largest event of the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations of the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Harbour. Expo 88 attracted more than 15,760,000 visitors who bought tickets worth A$175 million. The event achieved both its economic aims and very good attendances, was successfully used to promote Queensland as a tourist destination and it spurred a major re-development at the South Brisbane site. The core feature of the site were the international pavilions. Many of the exposition's sculptures and buildings were retained by various entities around the state and are still in use or on display today.
History
Origins
The first thoughts of a world expo for Brisbane began soon after James Maccormick, architect for the Australia Pavilion at Expo 67, Expo '70 and Expo '74, was commissioned to do an urban renewal study for Kangaroo Point in the early 70s. It occurred to Maccormick that an exposition would be an ideal catalyst for such a redevelopment, and he later hosted meetings with prominent Queensland business persons and government representatives to discuss the idea. With the Australian Bicentenary looming in 1988, other Australian capitals sought means by which to celebrate the event, including hosting of a Universal Exposition or the Summer Olympic Games. Sydney and Melbourne both made representations to the Federal Government for matching dollar for dollar funding for a Universal Exposition in the 1988 bicentennial year, however, citing the costs of the new Parliament House in Canberra, also to be opened in the same year, these proposals were knocked back. But 12 years later the 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Sydney, and Brisbane will be the 2032 Summer Olympics host city.Brisbane, under Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, then developed Maccomick's earlier proposal to host an international-scale exposition, however at no cost to the Australian taxpayer, a world's first 'free enterprise' World Exposition, which the Federal Government rubber stamped.
With federal representation, at the December 1983 Bureau International des Expositions General Assembly, Brisbane won the right to hold the 1988 World Exposition, as a specialised international exposition. Immediately, the Brisbane Exposition and South Bank Redevelopment Authority was formed with Sir Llewellyn Edwards, State Deputy Premier, at the helm. Maccormick later was appointed as Joint Chief Architect of the Expo, under the architectural firm Bligh Maccormick 88.
Construction
World Expo 88 occupied a mixed usage 40-hectare resumed parcel of land on the South Bank of the Brisbane River, opposite the city's central business district. For many years this mainly industrial area had been largely derelict. Stanley Street was permanently excised between Melbourne Street and Vulture Street while Grey Street was reinstated after the showground was demolished. The creation of Expo, along with the recent construction of the Queensland Cultural Centre, helped to revive the area. Construction was coordinated by Brisbane-based Thiess Contractors Pty Ltd.Around 100 works of sculpture were either commissioned, purchased or borrowed for World Expo 88 at a cost of $25 million. Large sun sails were erected over the site to provide shade from the hot Queensland climate. These became an icon of the Expo, becoming an element of Expo's sun-sails logo. Two thousand kilometres of telecommunication wire were laid during construction of the site.
A A$4.5 million 88-metre symbolic tower for the Expo was constructed, called The Night Companion, which featured a gold and copper dome black spire top, with a xenon laser beam eye that scanned the Brisbane horizons each Expo evening up to away.
The main entry gate was the Melbourne Street gate at the northern end of the campus, located on the current Grey Street alongside South Brisbane Station.
Monorail
A Von Roll MkII monorail was constructed for World Expo 88 to take visitors quickly around the Expo site. Costing A$12 million, it consisted of 2 stations at either end of the site, of track and 4 nine-carriage trains. The route included going through the Queensland Pavilion, across the Pacific Lagoon and beside the Brisbane River. The system was able to carry 44,000 passengers per day. Following Expo, one of the trains and some track joined the existing Sea World Monorail System at Sea World on the Gold Coast. The other three trains were bought back by Von Roll and are now running at the German theme park Europa-Park in Rust since 1995.The Fair
A ticket to the fair allowed entry to the World Expo Park amusement park at the same location. Although originally intended to be a permanent feature, the park remained open for only one year after Expo had closed. The fair was open daily from 10 am to 10 pm.The Expo sunsails and the Expo tower Night Companion can be seen clearly here, as well as the monorail. Some of the rides of the World Expo Park can be seen in the background. The 'cubistic flotilla' can be seen in the foreground.
World Expo 88 was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday, 30 April 1988 to much fanfare. The fair attracted more than 18 million visitors, including staff and VIPs, more than double the predicted 7.8 million, and was considered a turning point in the history of Brisbane, which had recently successfully hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games. With Expo 88 Queensland had transformed itself from a northern backwater into Australia's "most progressive state".
The Commissioner General for World Expo 88 was Sir Edward Williams. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the former State Government Minister Sir Llewellyn Edwards, was appointed in February 1984. The General Manager was Bob Miniken and the Entertainment Director was Ric Birch. Landscaping at the site was done by Brisbane landscape architect Lawrie Smith. The landscaping was based on nine precincts and used more than 150,000 temperate and tropical plants.
Pavilions
Despite late entrants into the Exposition due to domestic political measures, World Expo 88 attracted some 100 pavilions, from 52 governments, of which 36 were from international-level, and numerous corporate participants. Major western and European nations were represented such as the United States, the Soviet Union, France, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and Greece, as well as major Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and amongst others. Close neighbouring countries, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were also represented.State-level and multi-lateral organisations included the six Australian states, the United Nations, the European Union, Vatican City, three American states, one Japanese prefecture, and one Japanese city.
Corporate pavilions included IBM, Ford, Fujitsu, Queensland Newspapers, Australia Post, Cadbury Chocolate, Suncorp, and the Queensland Teachers Credit Union. NASA and Universal Studios hosted outdoor exhibits, with models of the Space Shuttle and Apollo program, as well as the car KITT from the TV series Knight Rider. Also having its own pavilion was the official Australian TV partner of the Expo, Network Ten, via its Queensland station TVQ, whose news studios were located there for public tours and during the Expo also switched channel frequencies in September in line with the other state channels.
The most expensive pavilion was Japan, followed by the Queensland Pavilion and the Australia Pavilion. The largest Pavilions were also Queensland, followed by Australia then Japan.
High-definition television received its Australian premiere at the Japan Pavilion, and the text-based Internet at the Swiss Pavilion. At the University pavilion the world's longest lab experiment was on display. The pitch drop experiment, which features tar pitch slowly dripping through a funnel at a rate of nine drops in 81 years, actually made an unseen drop while on display.
The most popular pavilion was New Zealand with its animated Footrot Flats show and glow worm cave followed by Australia, with its special effects 'Dreamtime Theatre'; Queensland, with its popular 180-metre long people mover ride through Queensland of the present and the future; Japan with its Japan Pond and Garden and hi-tech displays; Switzerland, with its artificial snow ski slope and cable car ride; and Nepal, with its 3-level hand-crafted Nepalese Peace Pagoda.
Architecture
For the most part, pavilions were housed in pre-fabricated units constructed by the expo authority, with the exception of the Nepalese Peace Pagoda, of Nepal, and aspects of the Kingdom of Thailand Pavilion, amongst others. The Australia Pavilion and Queensland Pavilion, side by side, were also custom-made, with the exterior of the Australia Pavilion notably in the shape and colours of Uluru. The Queensland Pavilion was designed by Robin Gibson.Theming
As well as the popular platypus mascot Expo Oz, designed by Disney's Imagineering Division, there were several themed initiatives that promoted World Expo 88, most notably the Expo's two interchangeable brands : one, a boomerang-styled '88' on a wire frame globe, and the colourful sunsails logo, which superimposed aspects of the Expo's entertainment on a relief of one of the Expo's popular sun sails. There was also a new weekly theme which allowed special-interest groups to entertain.The logos were used extensively throughout the Expo site as well as souvenirs, and a costume Expo Oz could be seen as part of the daily parades, shows, and other variety performances. Over 500 items of souvenir memorabilia were made using Expo Oz's image. Expo Oz also featured in extensive international tours in the lead-up to the Expo, to Europe, the US and Japan.
The theme song of the Expo, 'Together We'll Show the World!' by Frank Millward and Carol Lloyd, was also an important rallying point in promoting the Expo in the lead-up to and during phases of the fair, and captured a sense of the excitement of the Expo.
The colourful theme for the Australia Pavilion, which became synonymous with the hosting of the Expo with Australia as host nation, was designed by prominent Australian artist Ken Done, and featured huge playful colourful letters making up the word Australia in an Australia Pavilion Entrance set, and Exit set, with the entrance set a stack of nine, 3x3, some 2.1 metres high each, and the exit set, in a line of nine letters, some 5.6 metres high each. These letters became a very popular photo opportunity for the Expo, and the theme was also found on the brightly coloured Australia Pavilion uniforms also.
Five heritage-listed buildings in South Brisbane were refurbished and repurposed for Expo 88. They were retained after its closure and can still be seen today: Plough Inn, Ship Inn, Central House, Collin's Place Spaghetti House, and South Brisbane Municipal Library. The Expo House building on Sidon Street, which housed 'Club 88' and administrative offices, has been incorporated into today's Griffith University South Bank Campus.