Futurama 2 - twenty years later...

published in technology by seven on Dec 5 2008 12:24 PM | 2 comments

1964 World Fair Futurama Future General Motors GM New York Technology USA Space

In 1964, the World Fair returned to New York, about twenty years after the first event. Taking the opportunity, GM once again marked its presence with its pavilion where it revisited the future with the Futurama II exhibit, in an up-to-date and improved version. This time, though, its forecast didn't have the same twenty-year reach, nor did it limit itself to cities and roads: the future that was idealized was located at a sixty-year distance, in 2024, and the imagined world also included space conquest, in which the Americans deposited all their strength and enthusiasm.

Just like in the first edition, the exhibit was located in a building whose futuristic and aerodynamic lines resembled the Enterprise spaceship, from the StarTrek series. The visiting ritual remained the same, with the public touring the space sitting in chairs that moved over a railway line, from which the model cities and the diaporamas could be seen. There were simulations of underwater cities, cities in Antarctica and on the Moon, even. Even though it was devoid of any kind of ecological conscience, they proudly showed vast areas of deforestation in the Amazon jungle to build roads and cities, as well as crops in the desert.

1964 World Fair Futurama Future General Motors GM New York Technology USA Space

Over 26 million people visited this unique exposition and, like in the first edition, they went home with a I saw the future badge. And, most likely, those who saw the future in 1964 won't survive to see the future in 2024; those who get there, though, will no longer expect a wonderful and perfect world, promised by the optimistic view of Futurama.