A trade show is a temporary city.

observation — attributed to Sam Lippman

Watching the loading dock at six in the morning, Lippman saw an empty hall transform piece by piece into a functioning marketplace — and then dismantle itself days later as if it had never existed. A temporary world built with precision, inhabited briefly, erased completely. That image of the show as ephemeral architecture stayed with him for the rest of his career.

The early-morning Atlantic City moment that shaped his understanding of the business.

production, logistics, ephemerality, exhibition-craft