Overview

“The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation,” known as Expo 86, was held in Vancouver, Canada, from May 2 to October 13, 1986. Organized by the Expo 86 Corporation, it was a specialized exhibition under the Second Categorization System and celebrated the centennial of the City of Vancouver. It recorded 22,111,578 visits, more than half of them from the United States.

Origins and the bid

The idea came from Sam Bawlf, British Columbia's minister of recreation and conservation, who proposed it in 1978 on the basis of a concept study by architect Randle Iredale. A formal application for an exhibition called Transpo 86 went to the BIE in June 1979, and the BIE's 88th General Assembly recognized the Expo on November 26, 1980. Under Patrick Reid, the event was renamed Expo 86 in October 1981. The Expo arrived as British Columbia was recovering from a severe recession that had hit hardest in 1982.

Theme and subthemes

The theme was “Transportation and Communication: World in Motion - World in Touch.” Land, air and water plazas hosted changing displays, and 14 specialized periods offered seminars on subjects from polar transportation to alternative fuels. Exhibits included a Japanese maglev prototype, a German dual-power bus, a French people mover and a full-size replica of the TGV, and a reproduction of the Montgolfier hot air balloon. Getting around was part of the show: a 5.4-kilometer monorail, two gondola Skyrides, and the new SkyTrain served the site free of charge.

The site

The two sites covered 70 hectares. The main site stretched 4.5 kilometers along the north and east shores of False Creek and was organized in six color-coded zones, with BC Place, including the Plaza of Nations, at its center. The Canada Pavilion stood apart on the downtown waterfront, on a 3-hectare site of its own.

Pavilions and international participation

The Expo had 65 pavilions, 41 of them international, and the BIE lists 55 official participants. According to the BIE, it was the first Expo at which the United States, the Soviet Union and China all took part, and their pavilions reflected the space age. The Soviet pavilion featured a 15-meter statue of Yuri Gagarin and a 33-meter space station replica, the United States pavilion included a model of the space shuttle Columbia, and China displayed rocket models and communications satellites. Prince Charles and Princess Diana attended the opening on May 2, 1986.

Legacy

Expo 1986 Vancouver cost C$802 million to stage, and it closed with a deficit of C$311 million. Organizers had expected about 14 million visitors. Its legacy is visible across the city. The SkyTrain rapid transit line and the Alex Fraser Bridge were Expo-related projects, and the Canada Pavilion, with its white sails, became a convention center and cruise ship terminal and a city landmark. A renovated railway roundhouse became an arts-focused community center, the dome-shaped Expo Centre reopened as Science World in 1990, and BC Place later served as a venue of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Expo also became a reference for later organizers. When a Parque Expo team led by architect and planner João Vassalo Rosa prepared Expo 1998 Lisbon, it chose Expo 1986 Vancouver as one of its urban models, together with Expo 1988 Brisbane, Expo 1992 Seville and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. According to urban design scholar Patricia Simões Aelbrecht, the lesson Lisbon took from Vancouver and Brisbane was that temporary buildings with modular designs could be sold, dismantled and reassembled on new sites to meet new needs. Lisbon applied it in its own modular pavilions, some of which were designed from the start for a second use.

The BIE describes Expo 1986 Vancouver as North America's last Expo of the 20th century. It accelerated the growth of downtown Vancouver and helped the city earn an international reputation for livability.