L.A. Architect to Head Design Team for 1992 U.S. Pavilion

A Los Angeles design team headed by architect Barton Myers has been selected for the U.S. Pavilion at the World’s Fair to be held in Seville, Spain, in 1992.

The Myers team selection, announced Friday by the U.S. Information Agency, chooses “a building that will establish an image of America that highlights its vitality and creativity in the field of design and which conveys the spirit of a dynamic society confident of its talents and its abilities.”

Titled “Re-Discover the U.S.A.,” the Expo ’92 pavilion celebrates the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Replicas of Columbus’ three famous ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, will be featured on display at the fair, which will be situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.

“The Seville fair has many resonances,” Myers explained. “It not only marks the half-millennium anniversary of the European discovery of the New World, but also the inauguration of the political union of the European Common Market--a new United States of Europe.”

Myers suggests that, in a symbolic reversal of Columbus’ voyage, the components of the $7.5-million U.S. Pavilion should be fabricated in the U.S. and shipped to Seville.

The Myers’ team design, which beat out competing proposals submitted by such major architects as Frank Gehry and Cesar Pelli, features a dramatic 40-foot waterfall and a walk-through movie multimedia experience made up of film, video and slide projections complete with flashing Broadway marquees and traffic sounds to generate a sense of electricity in the air.

Fifty “Cool Towers,” one for each U.S. state, will fill the pavilion’s central plaza with refreshing breezes generated by evaporative pads. Three sun-tracking metal “shade sails” will act as huge umbrellas to protect visitors from the Andalusian summer glare.

“At the heart of the pavilion is the message that the U.S. is a vital urban society,” Myers said.

A native of Norfolk, Va., Myers studied under Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania before setting up a practice in Toronto, Canada, in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, Myers was invited to teach at UCLA, and led the famous “All-Stars” team of distinguished designers that submitted a proposal for California Plaza on Bunker Hill. Myers relocated in Los Angeles in 1986, and shortly after won the international competition for the Phoenix, Ariz., Municipal Government Center.

Respected by his peers as the architect’s architect, Myers is known for his cool, deeply considered and elegant designs. The chance to build the U.S. Pavilion in Seville will offer Myers an international stage to showcase his talents.

The winning local team includes graphic designers Sussman/Prejza & Co., landscape architects Emmet Wemple & Associates and exhibition specialists BHA Design. The team will visit Seville this summer to survey the site of Expo ’92 and discuss the pavilion with Spanish officials.