Tonight We Dine In Chicago

   

The collapse of the roof of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building was very significant literally and figuratively. Literally, it marked another monstrous setback in the already behind schedule fair and the eminent approach of opening day. Figuratively, it showed the collapse of the growing confidence and arrogance the United States had over the world; especially when comparing the exposition to that of the French.


The Manufactures and Liberal Arts building was to be the largest building ever constructed. It was also simply one of the many magnificent edifices being built for the world's fair. The Fair was constantly behind schedule and, as opening day approached, the designers slowly lost hope but remained confident in the completion of it. The fair was truly an outlandish scheme from the start; giving a group of architects a few years to design, build, and finish nearly a whole city's worth of structures was ridiculous to say the least. This, from the beginning, was a flaunt of hubris; the US believing they could beat--let alone match--the Paris exposition (disregarding the hard times, harsh weather, poor soil, and the time constraint).


The fair was in commemoration of Columbus's voyage to the New World, but in actuality, it was for the US to better the French. From the start, the fair was an act of arrogance; cities fought among each other of who was most fit to house such an event--all were good in their own ways, but they fought nonetheless due to their arrogance. This in turn caused the limitation of time to complete the construction. The fair was being built at a rapid pace--it had to be to meet the approaching deadline of opening day. But, this pace, coupled with a dash of arrogance, reached an inevitable climax--the collapse of the roof. This sent a message. The architects were no longer so bold; it brought their arrogance down a notch and tightened up their designs and executions henceforth.


Such creative acts do not always entail such destructive parallels. In most cases, they engender none of the sort. Most times, projects are not constrained by time, money, or such things that the world’s fair was. But in this case, the consequences were unseen yet unavoidable and resulted from constraints that ruined the overall outcome of the fair. The designs were extravagant, but the construction was shoddy; the perceived image was glorious, but time wouldn't allow the whole image to be fulfilled. In the end the, the architects’ hubris equated to the poor construction and execution of the White City. And although the fair and its buildings and exhibits eventually were completed, the boldness and arrogance of the architects and everyone involved were put to the when events such as the collapse of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building’s roof happened.