General Motors Pavilion – New York World’s Fair 1964
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Seen here from above, the General Motors Pavilion was the single largest structure at the fair, covering an enormous 230,000 square feet. Its dramatic wing-shaped roofline and sweeping white exterior made it one of the most recognisable sights at Flushing Meadows.
Inside, visitors encountered numerous exhibits focused on automobiles, modern industry and the technological future—but the star attraction was Futurama II. Building on GM’s groundbreaking exhibit from the 1939 fair, this updated version took guests on a narrated seated ride through scenes depicting the world of tomorrow. Each rider sat in an individual contour seat equipped with personal speakers, and travelled along a guided track winding across multiple levels of the pavilion. Landscapes, highways, automated cities and ambitious engineering projects filled the space—everything from Arctic pipelines to undersea colonies.
With an estimated 26 million visitors over its two-year run, Futurama II became the fair’s most popular attraction, reinforcing the era’s fascination with technology, mobility and limitless possibility.
In the distance of the photo, the bright red structure belongs to the Hell Drivers stunt arena, where daredevil precision driving shows were performed several times a day.
Today, the site once occupied by this massive pavilion has been reclaimed by open space and is largely used as baseball fields—a quieter chapter for a spot that once promised a bold, futuristic tomorrow.