Fair legacy: Greatest buildings from World’s Fairs past
Eiffel Tower (Paris) —
Built for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is still the world's most visited monument (by ticket sales).
ALEXANDER KLEIN/AFP/Getty Image
Habitat 67 (Montreal) —
Expo 67's star attraction was comprised of 354 identical, prefabricated concrete forms connected like Legos in an elaborate 12-story building with 146 residences.
Archive Photos/Getty Images
Space Needle (Seattle) —
Seattle's 605-foot Space Needle was built for the Century 21 Exposition in 1962.
Space Needle LLC
The Biosphere (Montreal) —
This geodesic dome was so popular at Expo 67 that it attracted 5.3 million visitors in the first six months.
Environment Canada
China Pavilion (Shanghai) —
The $220 million China Pavilion, designed by septuagenarian He Jingtang, resembles an ancient Chinese crown.
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Canada Place (Vancouver, BC) —
Canada Place received a royal launch from Prince Charles when it debuted as the Canada Pavilion at Expo 86.
Len Staples Photography
The Atomium (Brussels) —
This multi-tiered structure, inspired by the dawn of the Atomic Age, rises to a height of 335 feet. It was built to showcase Belgium's engineering might at Expo 58.
www.atomium.be / Alexandre Laurent
Ferris wheel (Chicago) —
When George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. unveiled his 264-foot-tall "pleasure wheel" at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, it was the largest single piece of forged steel ever made.
Public Domain
The Magic Fountain of Montjuic (Barcelona) —
This spectacular showcase of color, light and motion was one of the world's first displays of water acrobatics. It remains as alluring today as it was nearly 90 years ago.
Turisme de Barcelona
Statue of Liberty (New York) —
The Statue of Liberty may not have been purpose-built for the World's Fair, but her scattered body parts were star attractions of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Lady Liberty officially opened to the public in October 1886.