World’s FairsFound, not built?
Barcelona 1888Investigate

1888 · Barcelona, Spain

Investigate this fair

5 clues in 5 photos, strongest first. Tap a photo to zoom in on each clue.

Case file

The Hypothesis

Barcelona's fair rose on cleared citadel ground with permanent brick buildings and a hotel claimed in 53 days, which points to reuse of what was already on the site.

Barcelona built its fair on a demolished citadel, and its gate and castle are permanent brick. The record says a 2,000-guest hotel went up in about 53 days.

What the photos and records show

  • The record says the fair sat on a demolished citadel.
  • The Arc de Triomf and Castle of the Three Dragons are brick with stone and ceramic.
  • The record says the Grand Hotel Internacional went up in about 53 days for 2,000 guests; the view shows ground scars and dockside cranes.
  • The lamp standards match Pont Alexandre III in Paris.

Open questions

  • What was found when the citadel was cleared?
  • How was a 2,000-guest hotel built in 53 days?
  • Why the brick for a temporary fair?

What would settle it

  • Demolition records for the citadel.
  • Construction records of the hotel.
  • Pre-1888 site plans.

Photo 1

Barcelona arc de triomf

Barcelona arc de triomfZoom in

Photo: Isiwal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Masonry, not plasterBrick and stone on the Arc de TriomfThe Arc de Triomf is brick with a carved stone frieze and Moorish crowned domes.The questionWhy build the fair's gate in permanent brick if the fair was temporary?

Photo 2

Hotel Internacional 1888-des de Monument a Colom

Hotel Internacional 1888-des de Monument a Colom
Zoom in

Photo: photgraph: UnknownUnknown . architect: Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850-1923) (Transfered by amadalvarez/Original uploaded by Aerocat) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Impossible timelineA 2,000-guest hotel in about 53 daysThe record says the Grand Hotel Internacional went up in about 53 days. The view shows a large hotel beside a vast bare lot with ground scars, and dockside cranes on the wharf.The questionHow was a hotel that size built in 53 days?

Photo 3

Castell dels Tres Dragons 01

Castell dels Tres Dragons 01Zoom in

Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Masonry, not plasterCastle of the Three Dragons in brickToday's photo shows the Castle of the Three Dragons in brick, with crenellations, a band of ceramic shields and a corner tower.The questionWhy build a fair restaurant in permanent brick like a fortress?

Photo 4

Expo Barcelona 1888

Expo Barcelona 1888Zoom in

Photo: Lit. Sucesores N. Ramírez y Ca. · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Other details · whole photoBuilt on a demolished citadelThe official plan sheet shows the general layout with vignettes of the principal buildings, including a vast semicircular hall. The record says the grounds sat on a demolished citadel.The questionWhat was found when the citadel ground was cleared, and did any of it go into the fair?

Photo 5

Barcelona arc de triomf lamp

Barcelona arc de triomf lampZoom in

Photo: Isiwal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Repeated motif · whole photoOrnate lamps under the brick archAn ornate multi-arm street lamp stands on the promenade under palms, with the brick Arc de Triomf behind.The questionThe same ornate lamp standards line Pont Alexandre III in Paris. Is this a shared pattern book, or a shared older style?

Hypotheses this fair feeds

Patterns where this fair, its buildings or its photo clues are part of the evidence.

Strong57 entriesBuilt in two years, gone in one: the 'temporary' palacesEvery fair palace in our records is said to have gone up in three years or less, while permanent capitols and cathedrals of the same era took 8 to 24 years. Then most of the palaces were taken down or burned within months or a few years of closing. Common sense asks why anyone would spend that much effort on buildings meant to last one season, and why the 'temporary' ones went up so much faster than the permanent ones. One possibility is that some fair sites re-used or cleared existing structures, and the fair was the story that went with the clearance.Moderate18 entriesOlder cores behind newer facesOver and over the record itself says a 'new' building sits on, around or inside something older: a surviving medieval hall, a re-used palace core, a refaced 18th-century block, an old fort, prison or citadel site, a temple under a church. Common sense: if this is admitted in these cases, the same thing may have happened in others where nobody wrote it down, and the 'built' date may really be a 'refaced' date.Emerging12 entriesWhat was kept was stone, and the loved ones were recastOf the fair buildings that survived, the ones the record calls permanent are stone, marble or brick-cored. Three of the best-loved 'plaster' palaces were later rebuilt in concrete or stone, which means the building you see today carries a later date than the one in the photos. Common sense: if a 'temporary' palace looked good enough for a city to fight for it, maybe it was more solid than the record says, or maybe the rebuild date covers what was really there.Thin54 entriesWords that paper over the gapThe vocabulary in the records is soft at exactly the points where the question is hardest: buildings are 'dated', 'said to' be built in 100 days, 'rebuilt', 'restored', or 'founded'. Common sense: those words can describe building from nothing, or taking over, refacing or re-papering something already there. This is a reading guide, not proof.

All hypotheses →

Related clues at other fairs

#7Impossible timeline · Chicago 1893The iron arches, with three people in sightWhy is a 'construction' photo dated during the fair, and how was a span like this put up in the time recorded?Masonry, not plaster · London 1851Solid wall at the lower levelWhat is that masonry base, when was it laid, and did it carry an earlier structure?Impossible timeline · London 18511,850 feet of iron and glass in about nine monthsHow many men, carts and horses would it take to cast, haul and raise thousands of matching iron parts that quickly, and where are the photos of that work?Repeated motif · Philadelphia 1876Medallions and arcades repeated down the naveWere these ornaments cast for 1876, or are they a standard pattern found in other halls of the era?Impossible timeline · Philadelphia 1876The 1,880-foot Main BuildingWith horses and horsecars as the heavy transport, how was this length of iron and glass raised in two years?Masonry, not plaster · Philadelphia 1876Memorial Hall: stone at the openingMemorial Hall was always meant to stay, but what does that say about the 'temporary' halls standing beside it?

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