Website: http://www.ust.ucla.edu/ustweb/Projects/columbian_expo.htm
Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Lisa M. Snyder, IDRE
The Columbian Exposition model builds on the Urban Simulation Team’s experience with contemporary urban environments and cultural heritage sites. The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 is a perfect test case for the educational applications of interactive computer models. The exposition was a milestone for American architecture and urban planning. As Director of Works, Daniel Burnham coordinated a team of the most notable architects in the country, each designing one of the fair’s major buildings. As a group, these architects created aclassical city that would have lasting repercussions on American design ideals and spark theAmerican Renaissance and City Beautiful movements. Our understanding of this importantcomplex has heretofore been based solely on static images and written descriptions. This is no longer the case. Real-time visual simulation technology allows us to reclaim the lost experienceof navigating through the White City. Just as in 1893, the completed model will allow users to stroll along the virtual Court of Honor, tour the Wooded Island, and marvel at the fair’s classical structures from a gondola.