9. Both Structures Were Modern Marvels

Photograph Courtesy of NYC Parks Archives

It took 2,000 cubic yards of concrete and reinforced steel, more than 7,000 individual pieces, to create the Trylon and Perisphere. Their combined weight came to approximately 10,000 tons! The Perisphere stood 18 stories tall with a circumference of 628 feet and the Trylon reached 610 feet high. In order to test the durability of the design, models were subjected to 70-mile an hour winds in a test tunnel.

Fair planners wanted to create structures that would rival the Eiffel Tower in France which was built for the Universal Exposition of 1889. After considering many different designs the Trylon and Perisphere were selected for their strikingly unusual yet simple shapes, which embodied the future facing atmosphere of the fair.