NEW YORK, NY.- The New York State Pavilion was considered one of the best architectural designs at the 1964/65 World’s Fair and is certainly one of the most iconic of structures to survive. Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/65 World’s Fair, on view at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place from February 17- March 31, 2010, explores the design and afterlife of Philip Johnson’s Pavilion and its main exhibit: a large-scale, terrazzo pavement of the Texaco Road Map of New York State.

With less-than-serious references to flying saucers and a colorful circus tent, Johnson’s Pavilion embodied the technological prowess of the period as well historical and pop culture references that would come to define Post Modernism in the years to follow. Built as a temporary structure for the Fair, the Pavilion and its Pop Art map pavement have suffered from over 40 years of exposure and vandalism. The culmination of conservation and reuse studies by the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation and The School of Design and Architectural Conservation Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, this exhibition seeks to inform and engage the public about the significance and future of this 1960s masterwork.

Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/65 World's Fair is organized by The Graduate Program in Historic Preservation/School of Design/University of Pennsylvania and is part of the Center for Architecture’s Margaret Helfand Spotlight Series, which features current topics in New York architecture.