The Underground World Home was an exhibit at the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...

of a partially underground house which doubled as a

bomb shelter A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb. Types of shelter Different kinds of bomb Shelter (building), shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of host ...

. Designed by architect Jay Swayze, who made a specialty of underground homes, it was situated on the campus of the expo besides the Hall of Science and north of the expo's

heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park or simply Flushing Meadows or Corona Park) is a public park in the northern part of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. It is bounded by Interstate 678 (New York), ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

History

The home/bomb shelter was designed by architect Jay Swayze. Swayze, a proponent of underground living, constructed and lived in his own underground bunker-house in

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,187 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe establ ...

, which he named Atomitat. Built during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

only two years after the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, it was the promotion of the company "Underground World Homes", which was owned by Avon investor and

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. Many national currencies have, or ...

Girard B. Henderson, who remained convinced that tensions between the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and the

U.S.S.R. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

would escalate eventually escalate to WWIII. (In addition to the prototypical underground home/bomb shelter, there was companion chthonic exhibit sponsored by Henderson: "Why Live Underground?") The brochure for the Underground World Home touted its comfort, luxury, interior design and safety. However, the $1.00 for adults and 50¢ on top of the expo's fee entry, plus the expo's numerous, much more glamorous exhibits, deterred many potential tourists. A May 1964

LIFE magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

cover story on the exposition did not so much as mention the Underground World Home. Exhibits were contractually required to be dismantled and removed after the fair. Swayze eventually wrote a book, ''Underground Gardens & Homes: The Best of Two Worlds, Above and Below'', but the building's fate was not mentioned. The

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

held archives on the expo, however, and in 2017 it was found that the demolition of the home had been completed on March 15, 1966. Only its foundations, if anything, remain.

Design

The ten-room home featured backlit murals to create the illusion of outdoor space and preclude

claustrophobia Claustrophobia is a fear of confined spaces. It is triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms with a l ...

. The murals were painted by Texas-based artist Mrs. Glenn Smith. Swayze cited research to convince fairgoers that people did not look out their windows 80% of the time, and that and when people ''did'' look out their windows, half the time what they saw was undesirable. He stated that he could give people better views with selected murals. The home was touted as

peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. She is mainly remembere ...

proof, less expensive than normal homes, (''sic''), secure from intruders, and a way to save space above ground. The home was . The walls were of steel and concrete, and the roof supported by steel beams rated for a load of of soil (which provided the insulation). There were three bedrooms; the ceilings were of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

. There was a " snorkel-like system" for

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

— an apparatus which purportedly enabled the home to be dusted monthly. The

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

was , the kitchen/dining room , the

living room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a Dwelling, residential house or apa ...

(with a

television set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

and a wood-burning

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

) , and three bedrooms of , , and , respectively, connected by a hallway wide . The model home also had a terrace area simulating outdoor space next to the living room of .

Reception

In a 1964 ''New York Times'' piece

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

speculated what the 2014 World's Fair would look like. He deemed the Underground World Home a "sign of the future" with controlled temperatures which allowed occupants to live free from the weather. The home was not a draw, however, and was scarcely to appear in popular memory. Priced at $80,000 (approximately four times the cost of an average home that year), none were commissioned.

Popular culture

The

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

''The Best of the

Johnny Mann John Russell Mann (August 30, 1928June 18, 2014) was an American arrangement, arranger, composer, Conducting, conductor, entertainer, Singing, singer, and musician, recording artist. Career Johnny Mann began his music career in the late 1940s i ...

Singers: Underground at the Fair'' played in background of the exhibit; it did not sell well. This was its only appearance in

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

(save in the niche mythos of

urban exploration Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex, and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inte ...

, and as one of the oddities of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

) until its interior was reproduced in the 2009 CSI: NY episode ''Manhattanhenge'' as the anachronistic lair of a mad killer, the structure supposedly simply having had soil layered on top of it and been abandoned. The set was complex and impressive.

References

External links

Underground Dream World

Underground World Home Brochure
{{DEFAULTSORT:Underground World Home 1964 introductions 1964 New York World's Fair Air raid shelters in the United States Cold War sites Nuclear fallout Radiation protection Survivalism Flushing Meadows–Corona Park