You can hear its less poetic resonance in chants of "We're number one!" at political events, or in politicians' crowd-pleasing speeches proclaiming ours a nation of destiny, the greatest nation of all time. President Reagan outlined his own vision for a "shining city on a hill" when he left office. This notion has been revived and updated throughout America's history. I knew going in that Infinite delved into themes of American Exceptionalism, a concept that emerged in earnest around the time the Columbian Exposition but hearkened back to the idea of the City on a Hill-that Utopian vision of the United States first envisaged by the Puritans who believed they could remake the world in a more godly image. A newness and a technology more like magic than science.Īnd like the White City in Larson's book, there is a dark underbelly hiding just beneath the gilded surface. Levine tells me that he wanted to create that same sense of wonder in Columbia that people must have felt at the Chicago World Fair. Grand, floating neoclassical edifices not merely massive, but perched high among the clouds. In the flying city of Columbia, we witness similarly daunting structures. The event was designed to inspire awe and to cement Chicago in the world's mind as a great American metropolis, rivaling even New York City. The Columbian Exposition also marked the dawn of a new technological era, introducing the alternating current lightbulb developed by Westinghouse, and showing visitors myriad other innovations and marvels. It was designed to rival the Paris World's Fair's Eiffel Tower. These included the very first Ferris Wheel, pictured above-a massive contraption standing 264 feet in the air capable of sitting over 2,000 people at a time. These grand, neoclassical buildings at once symbolized the emerging concept of American Exceptionalism and served to draw visitors to view new wonders from across the world. The 14 buildings constructed for the fair added up to a total of 63 million square feet, and stood on 633 acres. Architects crafted massive, stucco-white buildings designed to stand only for the duration of the fair-buildings on a scale that dwarfs imagination. Also known as the World's Columbian Exposition (as it marked the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World) the fair was one of the most remarkable World's Fairs of all time.
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