Seattle World's Fair in 1962
In 1962, Seattle hosted the world's fair. It was the first international exposition since 1939 in the United States. This fair showcased an American city and region better known for its tall timber, white water, waterfalls, fishing, and history of gold rushes. Seattle city leaders held an international competition for a monumental fountain that would dramatize the Pacific Northwest's abundant water resources, which are a major contributor to the country's hydraulic power industry. The thought was to be a permanent fountain centerpiece, first gracing the main plaza of the fair, and afterwards, as a permanent civic landmark. The competition for the centerpiece water feature attracted over 250 entries.
The eventual winners were two Japanese architects who designed the enormous international fountain with parabolic light plumes of water and a sloped basin filled with irregular white rocks to suggest the unexplored terrain of the galaxies. Changing water displays, shooting to heights over 40 feet, created awesome star and flower shapes, which are still retained in the renovated fountain. This large water fountain symbolized man's effort to ascend to the heavens and to explore the furthest reaches of outer space. In 1991, the site was adapted to become Seattle Center, a complex of theaters, museums, exhibition halls, restaurants, and sports arenas attracting over 8 million visitors per year.
The fountain Plaza is now a very popular location for festivals of culture and musical concerts. Upgrades are also perform to improve its safety, to broaden accessibility for the disabled, and to upgrade its status as a distinctive landmark in Seattle and the state of Washington. The abruptly sloping basin was redesigned to remove the hazardous rocks, and it created an elegant spiraling ramp from plaza level to the base of the fountain. Also, the fountain dome was redesigned, replacing the titles with stainless steel, and increasing the height and breadth of the fountain. When the redesign of the international fountain was completed in 1995, the new fountain also had computerized controls, which replaced the former hand operated systems.
The fountain now presents an exciting one hour water program and the choreography is synchronized with music and light. The climactic feature is a sudden and dramatic burst of water which explodes like a missile 150 feet into the air. Every year during the summer crowds of people arrived each week to the majestic fountains to watch children and youngsters play in the fountain sprays as they would a giant sprinkler. To a generation well accustomed to space-age rocket launches, satellites and televised glimpses of planetary or lunar surfaces, the fountain at once aspired to suggest the extraterrestrial, something beyond this world, is today a familiar and lovable, if oversized, water toy as well as a popular landmark (and still it's largest fountain) in the lovely city of Seattle.