Designing the Centennial : A History of the 1876 International Exhibition in Philadelphia

The 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was not only the United States' first important world's fair, it signaled significant changes in the very shape of knowledge. Quarrels between participants in the exhibition represented a greater conflict as the world transitioned between two different kinds of modernity—the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the High Modern period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the center of this movement was a shift in the perceived relationship between seeing and knowing and in the perception of what makes an object valuable—its usefulness as a subject of study and learning versus its ability to be bought and sold on the market. Arguments over design of the Centennial reflected these opposing viewpoints. Initial plans were rigidly structured, dividing the exhibits by country and type. But as some exhibitors became more interested in the preferences of their audience, they adopted a more modern stance. Objects traditionally displayed in isolated glass boxes were placed in fictive context—the necklace draped over a mannequin, the vase set on a table in a model room. As a result, the audience could more easily perceive these items as commodities suitable for their own environments and the fair as a place to find ideas for a material lifestyle. Designing the Centennial is a vital first look at the design process and the nature of the display. Bruno Giberti uses official reports of the U.S. Centennial Commission and photographs of the Centennial Photographic Company, as well as the ephemera of the exhibition and literary accounts in books, magazines, and newspapers to illuminate how the 1876 fair revealed changes to come: in future world's fairs, museums, department stores, and in the nature of display itself. The 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was not only the United States' first important world's fair, it signaled significant changes in the very shape of knowledge. Quarrels between participants in the exhibition represented a greater conflict as the world transitioned between two different kinds of modernity—the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the High Modern period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the center of this movement was a shift in the perceived relationship between seeing and knowing and in the perception of what makes an object valuable—its usefulness as a subject of study and learning versus its ability to be bought and sold on the market. Arguments over design of the Centennial reflected these opposing viewpoints. Initial plans were rigidly structured, dividing the exhibits by country and type. But as some exhibitors became more interested in the preferences of their audience, they adopted a more modern stance. Objects traditionally displayed in isolated glass boxes were placed in fictive context — the necklace draped over a mannequin, the vase set on a table in a model room. As a result, the audience could more easily perceive these items as commodities suitable for their own environments and the fair as a place to find ideas for a material lifestyle. Designing the Centennial is a vital first look at the design process and the nature of the display. Bruno Giberti uses official reports of the U.S. Centennial Commission and photographs of the Centennial Photographic Company, as well as the ephemera of the exhibition and literary accounts in books, magazines, and newspapers to illuminate how the 1876 fair revealed changes to come: in future world's fairs, museums, department stores, and in the nature of display itself. The 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition In Philadelphia Was Not Only The Country's First Important World's Fair, It Signaled Significant Changes In The Shape Of Knowledge That Would Affect The Way Future Fairs Were Envisioned And Executed. Quarrels Between Participants In The Exhibition Represented A Greater Conflict As The World Transitioned Between Two Different Kinds Of Modernity - The Enlightenment Of The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries To The High Modern Period Of The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries. Designing The Centennial Is An Important First Look At The Design Process And The Nature Of The Display. Bruno Giberti Uses Official Reports Of The U.s. Centennial Commission And Photographs Of The Centennial Photographic Company, As Well As The Ephemera Of The Exhibition And Literary Accounts In Books, Magazines, And Newspapers To Illuminate How The 1876 Fair Revealed Changes To Come - In Future World's Fairs, Museums, Department Stores, And In The Nature Of Display Itself.--jacket. The Order Of The Exhibition -- The Architecture Of The Exhibition -- The Installation In The Main Building -- Ways Of Seeing The Exhibition -- The American System Of Awards -- The Exhibitionary Complex In Philadelphia -- Appendix. Enlarged Plates. Bruno Giberti. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 271-285) And Index. Designing the Centennial is an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the planning of America's first important world's fair - the 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The conflicts between the players - scientists and engineers, planners and politicians, organizers and their audience - demonstrate wider cultural clashes between a traditional view of things as object lessons and our more current understanding of things as commodities. Bruno Giberti uses the official reports of the U.S. Centennial Commission and photographs of the Centennial Photographic Company, as well as the ephemera of the exhibition and literary accounts in books, magazines, and newspapers to examine the concept of world's fairs, contrasting the 1876 event with other nineteenth- and early twentieth-century exhibitions and related institutions. The author goes beyond previous works on world's fairs by investigating the design process and by considering the nature of display - what people were looking at and how they were looking. "The 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was not only the country's first important world's fair, it signaled significant changes in the shape of knowledge that would affect the way future fairs were envisioned and executed. Quarrels between participants in the exhibition represented a greater conflict as the world transitioned between two different kinds of modernity - the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the High Modern period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.". "Designing the Centennial is an important first look at the design process and the nature of the display. Bruno Giberti uses official reports of the U.S. Centennial Commission and photographs of the Centennial Photographic Company, as well as the ephemera of the exhibition and literary accounts in books, magazines, and newspapers to illuminate how the 1876 fair revealed changes to come - in future world's fairs, museums, department stores, and in the nature of display itself."--BOOK JACKET. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, the first step in the design of any international exhibition was to classify the goods that would be on display.