Urban Transient Spaces: [RE] Appropriating Knoxville, Tennessee's World's Fair Park

Transient Space: An urban site that was developed for a temporary event or short-term program.

In this thesis, I will explore urban gaps created by transient events, such as the Olympics, World Fairs, and the World Cup. I believe urban environments created to accommodate for these transitory events present an interesting predicament for planners and architects. In several cases, these sites are not properly developed or programmed for post-event occupancy and create gaps in a city’s urban fabric.

I will specifically be examining World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. This site once hosted the 1982 World’s Fair, Knoxville International Energy Exposition. Now, more than 30 years following the event, World’s Fair Park has become what I refer to as an “urban gap”. In my research, I will examine Knoxville, Tennessee’s World’s Fair Park and how it can be further developed with an appropriate scale and program to better blend into the city’s urban context.