# Expo 92, Seville, Spain, December 2017



## HughieD (Dec 31, 2017)

*1. The History*
Seville has now hosted the Expo twice in its history. The first time was in 1929 when Plaza de Espana was built as the Pabellon de Andalucia. Sixty-three years later the Universal Exposition of Seville (Expo '92) took place in 1992 between April 20th and October 12th, on La Isla de La Cartuja. Subtitled "The Age of Discovery", over 100 countries participated on the 215-hectare site which saw over 41,000 visitors over a five-and-a-half-month period. Organized to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (1492-1992), the expo was initially to be a jointly held event with Chicago, but the US city dropped out due to financial issues.

The Expo was ground-breaking in many ways. ‘Pavilions’ were at the heart of the Expo and included the ‘Royal Pavilion’ and five thematic pavilions; Navigation, Discovery, Nature, Environment, and the Fifteenth Century. To offset the costs of developing nations a special monumental structure, the 'Plaza de Americas', was constructed, consisting of a large enclosed Plaza-type building, to allow maximum participation from developing states from African. The hot summer temperatures were eased using a microfilter water air conditioning system which was used throughout the site, along the main avenues and streets. Visitors were sprayed with cool mist in various locations, and could make use of the numerous fountains and wading pools to cool off.

After the Expo, many of the Pavilions were dismantled, and today the site is divided between a research and development park called Cartuja 93 and a theme park called Isla Mágica, the 'Magic Island', which also hosts the popular Pavilion of Spain. However, many the buildings are still to find new uses and lie in a state of semi-abandonment or moth-balling.

*2. The Explore*
Had this list as soon as I’d booked the flights to Seville. It’s a massive site and you could quite easily spend a whole day searching things out. Think I managed to cover the lion’s share of the site but on reflection now, there were some bits I missed. Overall, an interesting and relaxed ‘explore’.

*3. The Pictures*
The first thing you see it the massive detailed copy of the Ariane rocket:

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img4291 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4310 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4328 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4329 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Next to it is the massive “Auditorium”. This was secure, but I did climb a bank and get under the fencing. However once under the fence it was clear wild dogs close-by, so I bottled it.

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img4282 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4283 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4284 by HughieDW, on Flickr

An old map:

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img4296 by HughieDW, on Flickr

…and the symbol of Expo92 on an iron manhole cover:

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img4333 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The next point of interest was the old Monorail Terminus which is in a pretty sorry state:

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img4290 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4311 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4313 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4314 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4319 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4321 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4322 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4356 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Walkways outside the Auditorium:

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img4298 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4306 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4308 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4354 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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The elongated “Energy” pavilion. I couldn’t get near this as there was a lot of building work going on here:

img4299 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4357 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4300 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4343 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4302 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4305 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4342 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Satellite sculpture:

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img4303 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Next up is the “Palm Avenue” with its many water-features and the distinctive Biosphere:

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img4331 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4338 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4340 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Finally, it was on to the Guadalquivir Gardens:

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img4344 by HughieDW, on Flickr

…where the Banesto “Sky” Tower can be found:

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img4347 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4353 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4348 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Came across this place, the former Siemens building, at sunset on a later day but wished I’d discovered it earlier:

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img4890 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4892 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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img4893 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Finally, one of the many ‘sails’ towers around the edge of the site:

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img4895 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## rockfordstone (Dec 31, 2017)

really enjoyed that one, spain seems rich for dereliction these days


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## jsp77 (Dec 31, 2017)

Cracking report Hughie, looks like a really interesting place to have a nose round.


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## HughieD (Dec 31, 2017)

jsp77 said:


> Cracking report Hughie, looks like a really interesting place to have a nose round.



Cheers JSP. Just a couple more to come.


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## Sam Haltin (Dec 31, 2017)

Some nice feature there, I find that its the same whenever a country hosts the Olympics or an Expo, they spend loads of money to build it with interesting features and then, when its over they just leave it to rot away. Could have done something with the pool.


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## Mikeymutt (Jan 2, 2018)

Prob my favourite report from you this year hughie.well tied with the ufo houses cracking shots and place and another seemingly waste of money


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## smiler (Jan 2, 2018)

Cracker Hughie, Loved It, Thanks


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## BikinGlynn (Jan 2, 2018)

Thats pretty cool place, I would love to take my bike for a session on all that urban stuff ;-) 
Beautifully captured as always!


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## HughieD (Jan 4, 2018)

Mikeymutt said:


> Prob my favourite report from you this year hughie.well tied with the ufo houses cracking shots and place and another seemingly waste of money



Cheers mate. Much appreciated. Two unique places those...



smiler said:


> Cracker Hughie, Loved It, Thanks



Many thanks Mr Smiler!



BikinGlynn said:


> Thats pretty cool place, I would love to take my bike for a session on all that urban stuff ;-)
> Beautifully captured as always!



Cheers BG. You're bike will come in really handy as it's a massive site.


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## DaddyFatSax (Mar 27, 2018)

Wow this is a stunning collection of photos. It really works well with the sun setting and the feeling of these buildings being stuck in time. Great work!


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## HughieD (Mar 27, 2018)

DaddyFatSax said:


> Wow this is a stunning collection of photos. It really works well with the sun setting and the feeling of these buildings being stuck in time. Great work!



Cheers DFS....was sun rising in this case (bar the last one).


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