On Day 4, I finally got a chance to see the Tower of Water, the theme structure for Expo 2008. I have to admit that early on I had my reservations about this structure. It seemed like a rather large structure with such little content and at first glance, it looks like many office towers around the world. The main exception is that the outside horizontal lines are actually a slow spiral up and down the skin of the building.
Visiting the tower, I'm afraid that my concerns were founded. With the exception of a few exhibits about water on the lowest level, the pavilion consists of two pieces of artwork that would make for a very impressive hotel lobby and lots of ramps.
Taking the escalator up a few stories, you see a rather amazing piece of artwork representing a splash of water.
Afterwards, however, you have a choice to go back down to the ground level through the (plain white) ramps just inside the skin of the building, which is tedious and takes several minutes... or you have this choice:
...which takes you to the upstairs Cloud (Nube) Bar... almost a kilometer walk up several stories of ramps. Elevators were reserved for the handicapped, so I chose the option to leave.
I have to wonder what amazing, iconic structure could have been built with the same resources. I think about the Eiffel Tower, the Trylon and Perisphere, and the Space Needle... all of which captured the public's imagination in the lead up to the exposition. I'm afraid this structure just seems too businesslike and unfriendly.
On the materials front, I have to make mention of an interesting material I saw being used with gravel. It gives you a surprisingly springy step despite walking on gravel and presumably, also keeps gravel from being kicked around the site.
The exhibits by African countries in recent expositions have seemed a bit chaotic and claustrophobic as dozens of countries vie for attention in a limited space. This year, however, I'm happy to report an ingenious solution to the problem.
Countries are given more generous pacing and thick short walls separate the exhibits. It has the positive effect of both opening up the space and reducing visual clutter. It also means that turning every corner provides a potential visual surprise.
One such visual surprise was the Ethopian exhibit which celebrate the Ethiopian year 2000 (2008 in the Western Calendar) with a visual diagram of the year... radiating from the center of the exhibition space. Many pavilions suffer from repetitive panels with photos and text. I noticed that guests lingered far more in this space than other spaces with a more linear narrative.
Expositions, naturally, have set dates and therefore suffer from a rush beforehand to finish everything by the opening date. I noticed a few areas where it was clear that some of the details hadn't quite been ironed out. It's a shame that some of these details weren't more artfully constructed.
The big surprise of my day was the Extreme Water ("Agua Extrema") Pavilion. It's always a joy to enter an exhibit not knowing what's inside and discover something fun and different. After visitors file past info-laden panels, they're given a rain ponch to wear for the theater presentation, a movie about heavy storms, hurricanes, and tsunamis that would leave you wet if not for the protective gear.
1 comment:
Dear Urso, I just assumed before the opening of Expo 2008 the water tower would be partly used as a venue for observation? I agree that it really doesn`t serve any purpose (especially, as a structure complimenting the theme) other than it`s name!:> I think the symbolic structure that will be remembered from this Expo is the Bridge! Very daring architecture which creates exciting visual spaces!
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