ISIE Lecture on the Texas Pavilion
Event Details
Free Zoom Event
NOTE: Event time is 1:00 pm CST.
HemisFair ’68 was the first officially designated international exposition held in the Southwestern United States. Timed to coincide with San Antonio’s 250th anniversary, it dramatically reshaped the city’s center using federal urban renewal funds. In the process, it erased San Antonio’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood. Amid this destruction, however, emerged a bold vision of mid-century modern architecture, exemplified by the Texas Pavilion—the first announced and largest exhibitor at the fair – which became the Institute of Texan Cultures.
Designed by Caudill, Rowlett, and Scott—at one time the world’s largest architecture firm and notable for having a Mexican American partner, William M. Peña—the Texas Pavilion embodied the fair’s theme: “The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas.”
Inside, the Pavilion’s exhibit challenged stereotypical images of Texas by presenting a diverse, global population shaping the state’s identity. Dr. Gould will explore the rich, multiethnic community displaced by HemisFair ’68, the pioneering contributions of architect William M. Peña, the significance of Mesoamerican influences in the Pavilion’s design, and the building’s current status as a surviving landmark of a transformative moment in San Antonio’s history.
The Conservation Society is currently engaged in a lawsuit over demolition work started on the Texas Pavilion. Read more here under Media Coverage.
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