Unisphere

This article is about the structure. For the networking company, see Unisphere Networks.

Unisphere
The Unisphere with its fountains and spectators
Location within New York City Location within New York Location within the United States
40°44′47″N 73°50′42″W
Type	Steel structure
Location	Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Queens, New York, U.S.
History
Dedicated	March 1964 (1964-03)
Built	1963–64
Built for	1964 New York World's Fair
Site notes
Height	140 feet (43 m)
Architect(s)	Gilmore David Clarke (landscape architect) Peter Muller-Munk Associates (industrial designers)
Sculptor	American Bridge Company
Restored	1993–94, 2010
Governing body	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Landmark
Designated	May 16, 1995
Reference no.	1925

The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, the Unisphere was conceived and constructed as the theme symbol of the World's Fair. The theme of the World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding", and the Unisphere represented the theme of global interdependence, being dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe".

Clarke devised plans for the Unisphere while aboard an airplane in 1960. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation commissioner Robert Moses, who had already rejected two plans for iconic structures at the 1964 fair, approved Clarke's proposal in early 1961. After further refinements, the Unisphere was constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of U.S. Steel, from March to August 1963. Over 51 million people visited the Unisphere during the World's Fair, after which it became a permanent attraction of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The Unisphere became an unofficial symbol of Queens after the World's Fair. In the 1970s, the Unisphere was not maintained and became visibly dirty; it was restored in the early 1990s. The Unisphere was made a New York City designated landmark in 1995 and, after another period of disrepair, it was restored in the early 2010s.

The Unisphere measures 140 feet (43 m) high and 120 feet (37 m) in diameter. It sits atop a 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) tripod base with over 500 steel pieces representing the countries, as well as three steel rings representing the first artificial satellites orbiting Earth. Around the Unisphere is a reflecting pool measuring 310 feet (94 m) in diameter, surrounded by 48 pairs of fountainheads.