As showcases for invention and innovation, world fairs have presented unique creative opportunities for bold engineering and iconic architecture symbolizing progress. While many fair structures were never intended to survive beyond an exposition, vestiges remain and continue to evolve as enduring expressions of cultural pride and optimism. Hosted by The Association for Preservation Technology International, this webinar will explore the history, reuse and conservation of two geographically distant world’s fair icons conceived in very different times, places and socio-political environments, resulting in unexpectedly differing outcomes.

Belgian Friendship Building

The Belgian Building at Virginia Union University, the sole surviving structure from the 1939 New York World’s Fair, presents two distinct preservation conditions rooted in its original design as a temporary exhibition pavilion. Its structural steel frame — built-up riveted columns and girders connected between assemblies with bolts, allowing rapid disassembly — has performed with exceptional durability, showing no measurable movement or significant corrosion after more than eighty years. The envelope system is another matter. Architectural terra cotta tiles, stamped “Pottelberg, Made in Belgium,” are suspended from horizontal steel purlins by galvanized wire and held in place with mortar whose thermal expansion coefficient is incompatible with both the steel and the tile. Differential movement has cracked and displaced mortar throughout, leaving the purlin system exposed to water infiltration. The wall assembly offers no practical path to remediation: the uninsulated air gap resists insulation, the thin steel window frames cannot accept double-pane glazing, and interior furring would damage original soapstone sills throughout. Available interventions threaten harm to what remains, fail to address the underlying condition, or conceal character-defining features of the building — a consequence of a system designed for a two-season exhibition, now asked to perform indefinitely in the humid mid-Atlantic climate of Richmond, Virginia.

Bryan Clark Green, coauthor of The Robert L. Vann Tower and the Belgian Friendship Building, published in 2025, will chronicle this strange saga, the building’s international journey, its preservation, adaptation and many lives.

Habitat 67

When it was designed and built half a century ago by the young and promising architect Moshe Safdie, Habitat 67 reflected the most unconventional aspects of the Montreal landscape. Its prefabricated, modular concrete construction, stacked in an unusual and irregular configuration, was shocking. Safdie’s concept behind Habitat 67’s bold form aimed to introduce a cutting-edge housing option—a hybrid between the multilevel single-family home and the multi-apartment urban building. Over the years, it has attracted tourists and architecture enthusiasts from around the world to study its fascinating composition.

Habitat was designated a heritage building (historic monument) by the Quebec Ministry of Culture in 2009 to preserve its iconic facade and fundamental character. When Moshe Safdie decided to renovate and restore his own unit within the Habitat complex, his vision was to preserve its character-defining attributes while making significant improvements. Architect Ghislain Bélanger of CO12 Architects worked closely with Safdie to address decades of water damage and restore the interior while undertaking technical upgrades to meet 21st century sustainability and energy conservation standards. Safdie and CO12 architects continue to be involved in the ongoing restoration of the building’s concrete exterior.

Continuing Education Credits

1.5 LU/HSW/PDH (pending)

A limited-access recording of this session will be available exclusively to those who register for the webinar. Please note, per AIA guidelines, only participants of the live program are eligible for continuing education credits.

Tuesday June 9, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Webinar

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