Underground World Home
The Underground World Home was an exhibit at the 1964 [New York World's Fair] of a partially underground house which doubled as a bomb shelter. Designed by architect Jay Swayze, who made a specialty of underground homes, it was situated on the campus of the expo besides the New [York Hall of Science|Hall of Science] and north of the expo's heliport in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens.
History
The home/bomb shelter was designed by architect Jay Swayze. Swayze, a proponent of underground living, constructed and lived in his own underground bunker-house in Plainview, Texas, which he named Atomitat.Built during the Cold War only two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was the promotion of the company "Underground World Homes", which was owned by Avon investor and millionaire Girard B. Henderson, who remained convinced that tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would escalate eventually escalate to WWIII. The brochure for the Underground World Home touted its comfort, luxury, interior design and safety. However, the $1.00 for adults and 50¢ on top of the expo's fee entry, plus the expo's numerous, much more glamorous exhibits, deterred many potential tourists. A May 1964 LIFE magazine cover story on the exposition did not so much as mention the Underground World Home.
Exhibits were contractually required to be dismantled and removed after the fair. Swayze eventually wrote a book, Underground Gardens & Homes: The Best of Two Worlds, Above and Below, but the building's fate was not mentioned. The New York Public Library held archives on the expo, however, and in 2017 it was found that the demolition of the home had been completed on March 15, 1966. Only its foundations, if anything, remain.
Design
The ten-room home featured backlit murals to create the illusion of outdoor space and preclude claustrophobia. The murals were painted by Texas-based artist Mrs. Glenn Smith. Swayze cited research to convince fairgoers that people did not look out their windows 80% of the time, and that and when people did look out their windows, half the time what they saw was undesirable. He stated that he could give people better views with selected murals. The home was touted as peeping Tom proof, less expensive than normal homes,, secure from intruders, and a way to save space above ground.The home was. The walls were of steel and concrete, and the roof supported by steel beams rated for a load of of soil. There were three bedrooms; the ceilings were of gypsum. There was a "snorkel-like system" for air conditioning— an apparatus which purportedly enabled the home to be dusted monthly.
The foyer was, the kitchen/dining room , the living room , and three bedrooms of ,, and, respectively, connected by a hallway wide. The model home also had a terrace area simulating outdoor space next to the living room of.