New York Hall of Science’s Great Hall celebrates 60 years

As if the fun of the popular interactive exhibit called “Connected Worlds” isn’t enough for visitors to the New York Hall of Science in Queens, it’s inside a building that, in itself, is really something else. It’s the Great Hall.

“People stop all the time at the front. They come in, they stop, they look up, and then they continue into the space. They’re always like, ‘Wow, this is amazing,’” Priya Mohabir, senior vice president of youth development and museum culture at the New York Hall of Science, said.

What You Need To Know

• The New York Hall of Science in Queens was established 60 years ago
• It was built for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair 
• The Great Hall building was designed by noted architect Wallace Harrison

The Great Hall was built for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. It’s the design of noted architect Wallace Harrison, who was also lead architect for the United Nations Headquarters. The hall features more than 5,000 2-by-3-foot panels of glass to make up its facade.

“He used a technique called ‘dalle de verre’ which is really cool, because we are a science and technology center, which is putting blocks of glass into concrete, but when I think of concrete, I think of rigid sharp structures, but the Great Hall has not one straight wall,” Mohabir said. “It is all curved structures, and it was really meant to help the people, when you walk into the space, make you feel like you’re in space.” 

The Great Hall, which looks cool at night with its blue lights, is not the only remnant within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park of the World’s Fair. The hall’s Rocket Park was known as the United States Space Park.

There’s the New York State Pavillion with the Tent of Tomorrow and Observation Towers; the Terrace on the Park catering hall was a heliport and exhibition space.

There’s the Column of Jerash, a Roman column dating back to 120 AD, presented by King Hussein of Jordan. There’s also the Rocket Thrower sculpture, Queens Theatre, and of course the Unisphere, which is a symbol of the borough of Queens.

With the Hall of Science’s expansion over the years, the Great Hall has become the centerpiece for a campus of learning for generations of New Yorkers.

“When it was built, it was really commissioned to be the science and technology hub of the World’s Fair and after it was built, then it was released back to the city to continue in that kind of ethos of like being a place to converge science and technology for the city,” Mohabir said. 

The Hall of Science is celebrating its 60th Birthday all year long starting with tours of the Great Hall. For more information, visit nysci.org.

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