James Maccormick World Expo 88 collection

James Maccormick was principal architect with the Commonwealth Department of Works in Canberra from 1963 to 1970. He designed Australia's pavillions for the the 1967 expo in Montreal and the 1970 expo in Osaka. He was then University Architect, University of Queensland from 1970 to 1978 before opening his own private practice. In 1974 while working for the University of Queensland he was employed by the federal government to design the Australian pavilion at an expo in Spokane, Washington, U.S.A. Upon his return to Brisbane Maccormick saw the possibilities of Brisbane as an exposition site. He believed that an exposition would be the ideal catalyst for the redevelopment of Kangaroo Point and met with representatives from government and business to enlist support for this idea. The celebration of Australia's bicentenary in 1988 provided the impetus to push for an expo to be held in Brisbane in that year. Maccormick lobbied politicians, business and academic leaders and appeared on television and radio to raise public awareness. In the early 1980s he attracted the attention of then Queensland Premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who was so convinced of the worth of the scheme that he instigated a direct approach to the International Expo Authority and eventually secured the rights for Queensland to stage the World Expo in Brisbane from April to November in 1988. The South Brisbane site, later to be known as Southbank, was chosen and Expo 88 became an unprecedented success, averaging 100 000 visitors a day.