Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Central America.--Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have each erected
pavilions characteristic of Central American architecture. The
Guatemalan Pavilion houses a display of the products of the forests,
fields, and mines of the country, with coffee as its most notable
exhibit. A native marimba band playing Guatemalan airs makes complete
the Central American spirit of this pavilion. The Pavilion of Honduras,
which might have been brought entire from Central America by a genie,
contains a display of laces, woven hats, tropic ferns and flowers.
China.--The Imperial Audience Hall of the Forbidden City at Peking is
reproduced in miniature in the three government buildings of the Chinese
compound at the Exposition. The central pavilion is modeled after the
great hall where for three centuries the Manchu emperors gave audiences.
The two flanking structures, both alike, are copies of the buildings
where court officials and the delegations awaited the coming of the Son
of Heaven to the throne room. The pagoda and the tower at the left and
right of the entrance are likewise copies of structures in the Forbidden
City. All the buildings were constructed by native artisans, brought
over from China for the purpose. The flag of the Republic floats from
the tower, its colors from top to bottom standing in order for
Manchuria, South China, Tibet, and Mongolia. The ancient dragon is
absent, banished by the spirit of New China.
Within the three government pavilions are magnificent carvings, vases
and lacquered furniture, old prints and paintings on silk. The priceless
collection of the latter, shown here and in the Chinese section of the
Fine Arts Palace, is the finest in the world, the property of a Chinese
collector. Its pictures are a complete representation of Chinese
painting for more than a thousand years. China is represented by
exhibits in all the Exposition palaces, the most extensive participation
by any foreign country.
Cuba.--The Cuban Pavilion, designed by Francisco Centurion, is a good
example of Spanish-American architecture. It is distinguished by a
square tower at one corner, a wide portico, roof of Spanish tile, and a
central patio, designed for receptions. On the second floor is a great
ballroom approached by a splendid stairway in the old Spanish style.
Cuba's most striking exhibit at the Exposition is the display of
tropical plants and flowers in the Palace of Horticulture.
Denmark.--Denmark, like the two other Scandinavian countries, has made
her pavilion characteristic of her own national architecture. Though not
in any sense a reproduction, the building finds its motive in Hamlet's
Castle of Kronberg at Elsinore. The architect has softened the grimness
and bulk of the ancient fortress into a pleasing building, that has the
spirit of the gray land by the German Ocean, and the solid character of
the Danes. The dim past appears in the great gravestones on the grounds,
copies of monuments on ancient Danish barrows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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