The Crystal Palace was erected in Hyde Park in London in 1851. The cast-iron and plate-glass building, site of the very first universal exposition, was destroyed by fire in 1936.
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Fire also destroyed the Rotunde, symbol of the Vienna universal exposition of 1873, in 1937. The site had been used for cultural events after the Expo.
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The Eiffel Tower building site in 1888, the year before France’s second Universal Expo. It is hard to think of Paris without the tower, which was, until 1930, the tallest building worldwide.
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Paris also held the fifth Universal Expo in 1900. Whereas many countries built palaces for the fair, the Swiss decided to put up a traditional wooden building.
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A little train car was put into service to transport visitors to the International Expo of 1937 in Paris. Facing each other are the German pavilion, symbolised by an eagle, and the Russian pavilion, with its hammer and sickle - in a sad presage of the Second World War, which was to break out two years later.
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The Atomium, constructed for the Expo 1958 in Brussels, Belgium, was only originally intended to be in place for the fair’s duration. It has now become a landmark in the Belgian capital.
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The Space Needle, from the Expo of 1962, still dominates the Seattle skyline at 184 metres in height.
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The exhibition space for the Montreal Expo of 1967 was built on the islands of Sainte-Hélène and Notre-Dame in the St Lawrence river.
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The Swiss pavilion – which featured a huge lighting installation - at the 1970 Expo in Osaka, Japan – the first Universal Expo in Asia.
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The Swiss pavilion’s paper tower from the Seville Expo of 1992. Franco-Swiss artist Ben Vautier caused controversy in Switzerland by writing “Switzerland does not exist” inside the pavilion.
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Standing at 145 metres tall, the Torre Vasco de Gama, emblem of the 1998 Lisbon Expo, is still the tallest building in Portugal today.
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A delegation of leading Swiss and German politicians visit the wooden Swiss pavilion, designed by the architect Peter Zumthor (second on the right). The installation was considered one of the most impressive works at the Hannover Expo of 2000.
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There were long queues to get into the Swiss pavilion at the 2005 Expo in Nagoya, Japan, Visitors were able to climb up a Swiss “mountain” and to snap a souvenir photo.
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The bridge designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid was one of the symbols of the Zaragoza Expo of 2008, which was on the theme of water and sustainable development.
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Among the attractions at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai was the Swiss pavilion’s cableway. Despite breaking down on several occasions, the cableway transported hundreds of thousands of visitors.
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The Big O was the symbol of the 2012 Expo in Yeosu, South Korea, whose theme was “The Living Ocean and Coast”.
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Since 1851 there have been many Universal Expositions all round the world. These huge events, in which Switzerland has almost always participated, represent important meeting points for humanity to reflect on global challenges and consider innovative solutions.
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The Expos were originally designed to show off the technological and industrial progress made by upcoming nations, but nowadays their objectives are more educational and exchange-oriented.
Modern Expos are based around a theme, as a way of unifying the different elements and experiences. But over the last century and a half many fairs have left legacies, symbols that often pay witness to the competitive spirit among industrialised nations.
Among the most famous are the Crystal Palace of London, built in 1851, but destroyed by fire in 1936, the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1889), the Atomium in Brussels (1958), the Space Needle in Seattle (1962) and the Torre Vasco de Gama in Lisbon (1998).
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