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 by Lim Hui Sin
Like many things in China, the numbers are staggering.
Some 70 million visitors are expected at the largest World Expo ever, now taking place in Shanghai over a six-month period—or 184 days. Also known as the World’s Fair, this massive event began May 1 and concludes Oct. 31. A total of 192 countries and 49 organizations are participating as exhibitors in separate, uniquely designed pavilions. There is a sense of excitement in the air as visitors pass through the massive line of turnstiles that allow access to World Expo; some have clearly done their homework and head off purposefully to their favorite zones, while others wander around gaping at the eye-catching works of architecture, not quite sure where to start.
World Expo 2010 is being held at a site less than two miles from the center of Shanghai. The event grounds span nearly two square miles (five kilometers)—four times larger than the Aichi World Expo held in Japan in 2005—and straddle the Huangpu River. National pavilions are located on the eastern bank while corporate pavilions are on the western bank.
This Expo’s theme is “Better City, Better Life,” and in keeping with it, the organizers focused on environmental protection and sustainability, with emphasis on holding a “green” event. On site, measures employed include the use of LED and optical lighting technology for buildings and their surrounding grounds and the use of greenbelts and covered walkways with artificial draft and misting to keep the summer heat at bay.
Several national and corporate pavilions are showcasing various sustainable urbanization ideas and best practices. The individual pavilions and other structures were constructed in accordance with green principles, and integrated solar walls, panels, and roofs also provide some of the energy requirement for the day-to-day operations of the World Expo site.
In addition, a 14-hectare (34.6-acre) wetland park was incorporated into the site. Located on a section of the eastern bank of the Huangpu River, the park is partly natural and partly manmade; it was created by rehabilitating the soil and water and then repopulated with plant and animal species.
Many pavilions offer interactive exhibits and multidimensional cinema experiences, while some feature rides and attractions that have drawn queues with a waiting time in excess of three hours. Several IAAPA members are involved with projects at World Expo. Here’s a look at a few:
Telecom Pavilion Takes Interactivity to a New Level
 Burbank, California’s BRC Imagination Arts worked on previous World Expos, including Aichi in 2005, Vancouver in 1986, and the events in Osaka, Seville, and Taejon in South Korea. At the Shanghai World Expo, BRC undertook the design and production of the USA Pavilion and the Information and Communication Pavilion (ICP).
More than 4million visitors are expected to visit the ICP, the joint pavilion of China Telecom and China Mobile. According to BRC, the company’s creation for this year is the world’s first “multidimensional interactive network” pavilion.
The pavilion’s theme is “Information and Communication— Extending City Dreams,” and the company wanted to showcase the applications and influence of cutting-edge information and communication technology (ICT) over the next 10 years. To this end, BRC combined interactive digital media, wireless and mobile network technologies, and tactile 4-D special effects to immerse visitors in a future reality where people, things, and time can be connected in every imaginable way.
BRC conceived and developed the storylines, the show network systems, and the actual exhibitions and shows, as well as all the interactive media, including the ICT device that each visitor takes along for the journey through the pavilion.
 The smart wireless device features a rapid-charge system, communication and tracking network, RFID, and show control system. Visitors use the gadget to create their personal “Dream Profile” that lets them participate in the shows, collect items, win prizes, and interact with the exhibits. Additional information about the shows is also provided through the device—all the information collected can be retrieved at the visitors’ convenience through the Information and Communication Pavilion’s website.
One of the main shows, the “Living Dream Mural” animated presentation, is a high-definition film projected over an 85-foot-wide screen and accompanied by lighting effects. As the story unfolds, audiences can participate in the story through their ICT devices.
The main show in the “Dream Big” experience zone is presented in a Multi-Immersion Network Experience (MINE) format that combines large-scale wraparound projection And multisensory special effects. The ICT device adds a personal dimension to the show by allowing visitors to participate in the adventure and receive information from the characters in the presentations.
Christian Lachel, BRC vice president and creative director for the telecom pavilion, says, “Visitors are giving the pavilion high ratings for the innovative way it combines a shared full immersion, colorful dream story with the world’s first personal ICT device. This breakthrough combination allows visitors moving through a high-capacity attraction to personally and individually engage one on one with the shows and exhibits. This is mass customization applied to experience design.”
USA Pavilion Proves One of Expo’s Most Popular
Within a month of its opening, the USA Pavilion had welcomed more than 1 million visitors. The theme of the 6,000- square-meter (64,583-square-foot) pavilion—one of the largest national exhibitions at the Expo—is “Rise to the Challenge.” Its exterior is a gray steel structure meant to resemble an eagle with outstretched wings; inside, American businesses and technology are showcased alongside the nation’s culture and values. The pavilion experience features appearances by a host of American personalities, including political figures such as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Barack Obama, and sports personalities like Kobe Bryant.
 BRC Director of Brand Development Greg Lombardo says of the pavilion: “Our goal was to conceptualize and bring to life an emotional, sensory experience that would capture the imagination of visitors.”
Four “experience zones” cover the areas of sustainability, teamwork, health, and technology and innovation. In the first theater, visitors are taken on a virtual tour of the United States by the commissioner general of the pavilion, José H. Villarreal. A 4-D film, “The Garden,” in the third theater is projected on five 10-meter-tall (33- foot-tall) screens that form a cylinder around the 500- capacity seating area.
For the duration of the Expo, some 6million visitors are expected at the USA Pavilion, and it has so far proven to be one of the most popular exhibitions, receiving an average of 35,000 visitors a day.
A Taste of Austria
For the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, Kraftwerk developed the overall media control systems and an auto-alignment system, which are both used in a 20-minute interactive experience with integrated visual and audio effects.
The auto-alignment systems can also be found in the Austria Pavilion, along with 2-Dprojections by Kraftwerk—both technologies power an enthralling virtual tour of Austria. Visitors to the 2,000-square-meter (21,528-square-foot) pavilion will experience five zones, including a journey through a typical landscape and sites of Austria—snowcapped mountains, fragrant forests, green meadows, flowing rivers—and urban cityscapes. Along the path that links the different scenes, visitors see animated installations depicting Austrian culture and economy.
Aviation Pavilion Looks Toward Outer Space
Wels, Austria’s Kraftwerk Living Technologies is involved in three World Expo exhibits: the Aviation Pavilion, the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, and the Austria Pavilion.
 Kraftwerk developed and implemented the media technology at the Aviation Pavilion, which costUS$40.9million and is 3,000 square meters (32,292 square feet) in size. The pavilion, which resembles a white cloud, is a joint project between the China Aviation Industry Corporation and China Eastern Airlines.
The interior of the pavilion, designed to show how aviation technologies will help to improve lives, is divided into three experience zones. Kraftwerk produced a range of different 2-D and 3-D installations that include a round ceiling projection and a panorama projection.
“Spacewalk” is an experiential theater featuring a 10- meter (33-foot) 2-D tunnel of projections as well as 3-D projections. Another attraction features a 115-square-meter (1,238-square-foot) panorama projection that uses six projectors with screens that are 4.7 meters high and a visual field of more than 180 degrees, making visitors feel as if they are afloat in the center of the room. For a dark ride in the pavilion, vehicles are on induction loops timed together with precise positioning and special effects like wind, rain, fog, and scents, enhancing the intensity of the experience.
“During the conception and realization of the projections as well as the installation and programming of special effects and sound system, we concentrate on stimulating all the customers’ senses,” says Franz Moser, project manager at Kraftwerk. “Brilliant pictures, a perfect acoustic, and the implementation of special effects intensify the attraction and make the story of aviation and its future very exciting.”
Drink Up
The 3,000-square-meter (32,292-square-foot) Coca-Cola Pavilion is named “The Happiness Factory,” and its theme is “A World Refereshed with Happiness.” Jack Rouse Associates designed the exhibits that showcase the drink company’s history and development. It was also responsible for creating a 4-D theater, an advertising theater, and a tasting lounge.
Green Buildings
Jora Vision, based in Rijnsburg, the Netherlands, helped create an interactive exhibition about the green buildings in France’s Rhône-Alpes. The exhibit, a scale model with light effects, touch screens, and projections, is located within the Rhône-Alpes Pavilion at the Urban Best Practices Area.
A Trip Through the Air
One of the most popular national pavilions at this year’s Expo, the Switzerland Pavilion has been drawing three-hour queues and is expected to receive some 40 million visitors in total during the six-month event.
The main attraction is a chairlift ride, supplied by Swiss Rides of Flums, Switzerland. The ride starts within the building and then carries guests up and out to the roof garden covered in grass and flowers—a re-creation of an alpine meadow. While the indoor exhibition focuses on urban civilization, the roof garden provides a contrast using the tranquility of nature. The chairlift has a total capacity of 3,500 people per hour, and throughout the journey visitors can catch 3-D glimpses of Swiss successes in innovation and sustainable development through 50 binocular stations set up along the track.
Lim Hui Sin is a writer and translator based in China. Originally from Singapore, she has been living in Shanghai for nine years. She can be reached at sinify@gmail.com.
About the Expo
Duration: May 1 to Oct 31, 2010
Expo Site: While all the pavilions are temporary, there are five permanent structures at the site: the China Pavilion, Expo Boulevard, Expo Centre, the Expo performance centre, and the Theme Pavilion. After the event, these will be used as venues for exhibitions, large-scale events, conventions, and performances. The surrounding area will be developed into a business district.
Cost: Around 28.6 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion)—twice that of the Beijing Olympics—including 18 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) for construction, and 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.55 billion) for operating costs.
Admission: Regular ticket is 160 yuan (US$23)
Visitors Expected: 70 million, with a daily turnout of about 400,000.
Exhibitors: 192 countries and 49 organizations
Website: www.expo2010.cn |
Like Epcot, Only Bigger … Much, Much Bigger
Some more must-see pavilions at China’s first World Expo
Story and photos by Urso Chappell
Combine a theme park, the Olympics, museums, performance venues, and a dash of the United Nations and you have a World Expo. Most people in the attractions industry are familiar with Walt Disney World’s Epcot, which was, in many ways, inspired by past Expos, as they both have theme pavilions and national pavilions.
With nearly 200 countries participating, you can expect there is a great variety to the hundreds of static and interactive displays, films, live performances, and even rides at China’s first Expo: see what Malta is up to; find out how Timor-Leste sees itself at its first Expo; celebrate the World Cup in South Africa’s pavilion; take a chance on a cuisine you’ve never tried before; or listen to a German rock band that you, and the mostly Chinese audience, have never heard of. It’s usually the small and unexpected surprises that can make an Expo visit for you. To see everything takes weeks.
Some pavilions, though, stand out more than others, and they aren’t always the ones you’d expect. Often, they aren’t even the ones you have to wait for hours to visit.
 Australia
Eager to continue its ties with China and the Chinese people, creative director Pete Ford of Think! put together an outstanding pavilion combining amazingly detailed, cartoon-like exhibits presenting the nation’s history with a groundbreaking theater-in-the-round show that mixes storytelling, music, huge rotating video displays that form an ever-moving cylinder, and sculptural elements that seem to magically appear from behind those displays. Both inside and outside the pavilion, which was designed to evoke Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), a seemingly unending program of live performances shares Australia’s lively, optimistic culture.
 China
Not surprising, the host nation put together a huge pavilion filled with a variety of experiences, including historic displays, a series of living room dioramas depicting the past several decades (which bring to mind Walt Disney World’s “Carousel of Progress,” itself a world’s fair show in 1964-’65), a stirring widescreen film, and a ride-through series of exhibits meant to evoke connections between the past and the present, and that use both literal and figurative bridges. The building itself is one of the few permanent structures on the site: a gigantic red inverted-pyramid “crown” that reaches 207 feet from the ground. Just as the 1889 Exposition Universelle’s Eiffel Tower became an icon for Paris, the image of the China Pavilion may soon become synonymous with Shanghai itself.
 Chile
A wonderful, unexpected surprise, Chile doesn’t so much provide answers but asks questions (in Chinese, Spanish, and English): “What does it mean to live in a city?,” “Why do you live in a city?,” and even “What is your neighbor’s name?” Literally turning things upside down, one display shows a typical city apartment in actual size but hanging upside down from the ceiling above a delighted audience. The pavilion wears its soul on its sleeve by addressing the Expo’s theme of cities through stories of connections and relationships. The heart of the pavilion, and a feature that many visitors sadly walk past, is a beautifully crafted video presentation on eight large vertical screens mounted on marble entitled “Eight Principles to Improve Your City.” Arranged as monuments in a semicircle, an example principle is “Every city is unrepeatable: its culture and its heritage and its singularity and its distinction.” The pavilion is a thoughtful ode to city living.
 Denmark
Denmark deconstructed elements of Copenhagen and brought them to Shanghai … literally. A clean white modern möbius strip of a pavilion, it provides bicycles to ride, two cafés with beer and pastries, and fountains to play in—all surrounding a small pool with the actual Little Mermaid statue in the center, shipped in from Copenhagen for the six-month run of the Expo.
 Latvia
Latvia’s pavilion encircles a large vertical Plexiglas wind tunnel that entertains audiences with skydivers choreographed to upbeat electronica. Clearly, this is not your grandfather’s Latvia.
 The Netherlands
The Dutch always put on an amazingly clever and delightful show at international expositions. At Expo 2010, architect John Körmeling created Happy Street, a spiraling structure with small buildings attached that seem to float in the sky above a green gathering space. Each little house presents a different side of life in Holland.
 Pavilion of City Being
One of several themed pavilions, this exhibit should be called the City Life Pavilion. It has some awe-inspiring, oversized exhibits, but its 360-degree theater at the end is where it all ties together. Short visual stories are told showing city life around the world highlighting such events as Christmas in Edmonton and a family’s move to Mumbai for better work.
 United Kingdom
Perhaps the most memorable pavilion exterior, the UK Pavilion is a large dandelion- shaped space made up of clear, flexible, acrylic rods—each embedded with a different kind of seed. Nicknamed “The Seed Cathedral,” it was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The seemingly impossible structure brings in light to a small chamber in the center during the day and has a faint, otherworldly glow at night.
This is only a dusting of all there is to see and do at World Expo 2010. If you go, though, you’d best hurry. Unlike Epcot, you’ll never be able to experience Expo 2010 after it closes on Oct 31. The vast majority of the site is temporary, designed to live on in the memories of the people who see it and the inspiration it will surely provide, particularly to its youngest visitors.
Urso Chappell is the founder of Expo Museum com and The World’s Fair Podcast. Expo 2010 is his eighth world’s fair. |
In the Catbird Seat
Swiss Rides’ chairlift attraction soars at World Expo 2010
by Jakob Wahl
IAAPA member Swiss Rides combined a dark Ride with a chairlift for an attraction at the Swiss Pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The ride takes visitors in two connected six-seater chairs from the heaviness of the city out into the airiness of nature, passing over green meadows with plants and flowers on top of the pavilion building. The ride is designed to evoke the Expo’s basic themes—sustainability and quality of life—in a coherent circuit. It takes about six minutes and is accompanied by an acoustic sound installation. FUNWORLD asked Swiss Rides Executive Director Philipp Meili about this project.
The chairlift ride proved to be a big success during the first weeks of the World Expo. Can you explain how this ride turned into reality? What was the concept, and when did Swiss Rides get into the project ?
The architecture office Buchner Bründler won the competition. The concept was a traditional ropeway, which brings people from the city to the countryside. Ropeway technologies have been considered but none of them have been found to be feasible. Out of these experiences the concept and layout for our chair ride were developed.
A chairlift is a special approach to a dark ride. Was it an option to work with a different system?
It was the goal of the architect to build a hanging chairlift, which drives noiselessly and gives the people the feeling they are floating over the landscape. Technically it is a combination of a monorail and a chairlift. The drive system is from the monorail, and the chairs and their suspension are from the chairlift.
In operation the ride is quite similar to a traditional chairlift: the speed on track is constant; for entry and exit the speed is reduced and the dispatch time between the vehicles is constant.
 Where were the biggest challenges during the project?
Especially in the final stage, the project management has been a real challenge regarding the coordination of all interfaces. The Expo and pavilions have been the largest sites we have ever seen in the world. Due to the fact that all the pavilions had to be built and finalized by May 1, the final construction period was very short and marked by some unforeseen obstacles, which we managed in time.
What will happen with the ride after the Expo?
All pavilions will be demolished including the groundwork and the impalement. We are already looking for an adequate purchaser for the chair ride.
As mentioned, this ride concept is very unusual. Do you see it as a single piece, or will you try to develop further into the dark-ride market?
In general it is possible to realize every kind of adventure ride with our ride. The ride can be operated with cabins, a sound system can be integrated, etc. There are a lot of possibilities and variants. Thus the ride is interesting for all zoos, museums, and especially for amusement parks.
Contact IAAPA Europe Program Manager,
Jakob Wahl at jwahl@IAAPA.org. |
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