Story: Industrial design

Geyser Room restaurant, Expo 70

New Zealand's pavilion at the international Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, showcased the nation's products and industrial design. The Meat Producers Board Geyser Room restaurant featured a stylised geyser conceived by architect Michael Payne and made from polythene tubes. Payne also designed the restaurant layout and furniture and worked with specialist designers at Crown Lynn Pottery and Crown Crystal Glass to create integrated tableware. This film shows the eatery in action. The American CBS Network chose to anchor its one-hour preview of Expo 70 from the Geyser Room Restaurant – so 200 million people had seen it on screen before it opened.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Reference: This is Expo. National Film Unit, 1971

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How to cite this page:

Michael Smythe, 'Industrial design - Protectionism, 1938 to 1988', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/41848/geyser-room-restaurant-expo-70 (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Michael Smythe, published 22 Oct 2014