Expo 2008, Day 6

My final day of Expo I spent visiting my favorite pavilions and taking more photos and video.

I made sure to return to the Germany Pavilion and take this (rather poor quality) video of its ride:



I also captured this video outside the Japan Pavilion which shows the Expo 2008 mascot Fluvi with the Expo 2005 mascots Kiccoro and Morizzo:

Expo 2008, Day 5

On my fifth day on the Expo 2008 site, I finally got a chance to see the Aragon Pavilion, the Spain Pavilion, and the Aquarium, meaning I finally saw every open pavilion.



The Aragon Pavilion was designed to reference a fruit basket, one of the signature products of this region of Spain.



The exhibit ended in a large dark room with multiple screens showing the same images. It was an amazing experience to be in this space with other guests exploring the space that included pools of running water and a few artistic exhibits. My photos do not do the space justice, alas.



I finally got to see the parade through the grounds performed by Canada's Cirque du Soleil.



Spain's pavilion was, not surprisingly, difficult to get into.It starts with a domed Imax-style movie that was pretty amazing and continues through rather well designed exhibits. One room of exhibits was filled with those little plastic (blue) balls that you see in kids' play areas. There were signs advising guests to shuffle their feet to get through the area, but the exhibit area itself was roped off and we were detoured around it. I suspect it was a better idea in concept than in practice. I can imagine lots of people tripping and balls rolling into subsequent exhibit areas. Unfortunately, I was told not to photograph this exhibit, so I'll have to leave it to your imagination.



Expo 2008's aquarium is themed around the rivers of the world.



The Murray-Darling River section was particularly well themed and was a colorful reminder that you were looking at Australian wildlife.



Many guests who don't speak Spanish may shy away from the performances, but I saw completely charmed by the Mondomono performance which relied mostly on visual humor to get its point across.



After finally seeing every exhibit, I took the time to revisit some of my favorite exhibits and take note of some of the details, such as this interactive floor in the Valencia Pavilion.



The Caribbean nations were grouped together in a wonderful space that brought what could have been conflicting exhibits into a cohesive, enjoyable space.



Madrid's small pavilion made clever use of mirrors to make their exhibit seem much larger than it really was.



In the evening, I enjoyed the performance Hombre Vertiente.



Expositions can be rather insular places where the outside world doesn't intercede much, but during the European Cup, it's difficult to ignore when the Russian Pavilion closes early so that employees can watch Spain play Russia broadcast in the Expo's amphitheatre. I noticed that Expo 2008's mascot Fluvi didn't take sides when presented a Spanish flag. After all, expos are a celebration of internationalism.

Expo 2008, Day 4

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.

Expo 2008, Day 3

On Day 3, I visited a few more national pavilions, the rest of the Spanish regional pavilions, and some of the theme pavilions.



I tried to visit the theme structure, the Water Tower (or Tower of Water), but unfortunately, it was closed for some reason. Unfortunately, my Spanish and the volunteers' English wasn't good enough to find out why. They suggested I try back later on. The tower was particularly striking at sunset, however.

To my eyes, though, I would have liked to have seen something a bit more iconic. The tower, from the outside at least, looks too much like many office towers I've seen.



Galicia's pavilion was a good example of a small, simple pavilion that really works. There wasn't much to their exhibit as it was one where people simply wandered in and out, but the video installation was striking enough that I noticed many guests lingered for quite a while. It was more artistic and abstract that a simple video screen. Upon further inspection, I discovered each colored rectangle was actually the bottom of a plastic food dish filled with water and with red, green, and blue LED's inside. I took some more photos as well as video of this exhibit which I'll be posting later.



It was the Spain National Day of Honor at the site, so the Spanish Pavilion was closed. Presumably this was because of dignitaries. The site is certainly not lacking for volunteers in their iconic outfits.



Fans of Expo 2005's Kiccoro and Morizzo will be happy to see them teamed up with Expo 2008's Fluvi outside the Japan Pavilion.



The themed areas were connected with this wonderful sunshade that seemed to visually pull together the disparate pavilions. There were plenty of nice benches, too. However, it would have been nice if they'd put the benches under the shade.



The Cities of Water Pavilion proves that you don't necessarily need new technology to create an effective exhibit. I'll speak later of the Water theme, but this pavilion exposed some of the problems with water as a theme. The issues are far more complex than can really be dealt in pavilions such as this and some of the inconsistencies are mostly unaddressed. Dams can convert water into power lessening our dependence on oil, but it can create other environmental problems.



Ten years ago at Lisbon's Expo 98, I noticed that many pavilions were using class floors so that you seemingly hovered over sand, water, or other materials. It seems like a common design choice this year is a white plastic flooring that I would imagine holds up to traffic pretty well and is certainly different from what you see in everyday life. Here's how it looked at the Sweden Pavilion. Carpet is harder to photograph than you might imagine.

...and now I'm off to Day 4!

Expo 2008, Day 2

During day two of my visit, I mostly concentrated on seeing more of the national pavilions. Germany, not surprisingly, was a highlight.



Germany's pavilion features a dark ride with recliner seats on boats. Unlike other dark rides I've been on, the intended visual focus is the ceiling. It's a very unique ride and a sometimes whimsical take on the expo's water theme.



They even had free water at the end. After seeing exhibit after exhibit about water in Zargoza's 90º F heat, you can imagine how thirsty you get.

It surprises me that no other pavilion I've visited thus far has done this. Wunderbar!

Belgium recognizes the 50th anniversary of Expo 58 with models of the Atomium as well as this book in their gift shop.



I wanted to buy one of the books, but was told they didn't know how much to charge and I should come back next week when they know.



On a better note, I discovered where to buy the official guidebook. At most expositions, the guidebooks are front and center in the gift shops. At Expo 2008, they only seem to sell the book at off-site newsstands and bookshops and their rather well-stocked on-site bookshop. I was pleased to see they have all manner of books related to the issues of water and sustainable development.

Expo 2008, Day 1

Today was the first day of my six day visit to Zaragoza, Spain's Expo 2008.

I am posting photos of my visit to ExpoMuseum's Expo 2008 Photos Page as I go along.

Today's highlights included a wonderful presentation at the Andalusia film that mixes video, lasers, and water to give a great sense of the region. This pavilion also demonstrates one of the things I most appreciate about good pavilion design in that it incorporates real people into the presentation. It makes it far more personal and compelling.



Austria also has a delightful pavilion that plays on the same humanistic theme. After proceeding up a ramp, you enter into a theater with a large inflated snow globe. It's actually only 1/4th of a globe reflected against a long mirrored wall. Inside the globe are fans and fake snow to give the illusion of a snow globe. A guest is selected by the pavilion staff as people are being seated. Moments later, the guest appears in the globe with a companion dancer dressed in traditional Austrian clothes. They dance a waltz for the audience. It was wonderful to watch the audience react.



The Basque region of Spain used an interesting bit of technology where guests grasped suspended umbrellas with video displays projected on them. The handle of the umbrellas controls the images.



Not surprisingly, China's pavilion had on display its plans for Expo 2010.



The Belgium pavilion, conversely, looked back 50 years to its own Expo 58.

Expo 2008 Opens in 4 Days

With Expo 2008's opening ceremonies just days away, things have clearly been busy in Zaragoza. Given Expo 2008's theme of water and sustainable development, it was ironic that the River Ebro flooded. From some of the photos I've seen posted on Flickr.com, it looks like it put some of the amphitheater underwater.

Last weekend, they had a test run with some folks on site and waiting in lines. I've found several videos on YouTube showing the sites, particularly the amazing views from the gondalas/telecabinas that run from Zaragoza's main railway station to the site.

Here's a representative video:


I leave for Europe this weekend and arrive in Zaragoza on the 21st. I'll be there a week and hope to have enough time to see everything, take tons of photos, and get some audio for ExpoMuseum's upcoming podcast.

Expo 2010 Pavilion Designs

I ran across a great run-down of Expo 2010 pavilion plans on a blog entry by a Pete in Australia:
http://petefords.blogspot.com/2008/03/expo-2010-update.html

Pete also has an interesting entry about his own background with world's fairs at:
http://petefords.blogspot.com/2007/11/expo-2010-here-i-come.html

Expo x Expos

I received my copy of the BIE's Progression Magazine today and was
pleased to discover that an exhibition, Expo x Expos, will be
traveling around the world and visiting Madrid, Lisbon, Zaragoza (host of Expo 2008,
Brussels, Paris, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Nagoya, Osaka, and
London. It is currently showing at the Triennale in Milan (which will host Expo 2015. Apparently,
in 2010, the exhibit will move from London, host of the first world's
fair to Shanghai, the host of Expo 2010.

I'm hoping to find out more information about this exhibition,
particularly its United States dates.

It would be wonderful if this exhibition could create renewed
awareness of the Bureau International des Expositions in the USA so
that we can re-join the organization.

At the very least, I can imagine it helping springboard San
Francisco's entry into the AVE, the Association of Cities and Regions
Hosting an International Exposition.

The Expo Book, Chapter 3 Now Available

Chapter 3 of The Expo Book is now available to download from TheExpoBook.com. Chapters 1 and 2 are also still available.

Chapter 4 will soon be published by IPM Magazine.

U.S. Department of State Signs Letter of Intent for World Expo Shanghai 2010

The U.S. State Department has announced they've signed a letter of intent to create a U.S. Pavilion at Shanghai's Expo 2010:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/apr/103770.htm

It'll be interesting to see what happens since, unlike most other countries, government money can't be used in the planning, construction, or hosting of a U.S. Pavilion. From the original request for proposals last year, I understand that about 100 million dollars will need to be found from sponsoring organizations in order to make this happen.

With only two years to go before the opening of Expo 2010, that's a lot of work to get done in a very short period of time.

The planning for other similarly sized pavilions (such as the United Kingdoms' pavilion) have been well under way for a while, so it's going to be a challenge to have the paint dry and doors open by 01 May 2008.

48 Hours in Zaragoza

Britain's The Independent published a great short video guide to Zaragoza, Spain and someone was kind enough to cut it into two parts and post it to YouTube.

With so many readers planning to attend Expo 2008, I thought I'd share it here.

Part 1:


Part 2:

The Expo Book, Chapter 1 Now Available

Chapter 1 of The Expo Book is now available to download from TheExpoBook.com. Chapter 2 is also still available.

Chapter 3 will soon be published by IPM Magazine.

1964-'65 New York State Pavilion Renovation

I remember the first time I visited Flushing Meadows, the site of New York's 1939-'40 and 1964-'65 World's Fairs, I was disappointed that the New York State Pavilion, designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, was in such a sad state. That was 1989. When I last visited, in 2006, it was much, much worse. It looks like things might change soon, at least for the big map floor:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/nyregion/07map.html

I'd love to see the whole structure renovated. There was talk, a few years ago, of enclosing the original tent area and turning it into an air and space museum.

Incidentally, I do have to take issue with the project's web site when it claims "The New York World’s Fair was one of the last international expositions. No longer relevant as a way to bring the world to the public, the Fair as event and construction is obsolete."

Since the last New York World's Fair closed in 1965, there have been sixteen world's fairs with one opening in a matter of weeks (Expo 2008), and three more in the next eight years (Expo 2010, Expo 2012, and Expo 2015).

International Exposition Identity and Branding

In January 2008, I was invited to guest lecture a graphic design class at Cal Poly Pomona. The class project is to study the history of Olympic games identity. Each student then creates a branding strategy for an Olympic bid.

I spoke about the history of international expositions and their identity and branding strategies since 1958.

Here were the supporting visuals (with no audio):

Milan, Italy to Host Expo 2015

It was announced in Paris today that Milan, Italy will host Expo 2015
under the theme "Feeding the Planet / Energy for Life." It was
selected by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) over rival
city Izmir, Turkey.

The Expo Book

I'm fortunate to have been asked to contribute my design skills to a great project, The Expo Book. The full title is The Expo Book: A Guide to the Planning, Organization, Design & Operation of World Expositions.

Written by Gordon Linden and Paul Creighton, the book is being published in six installments in InPark Magazine with the help of Editor Judith Rubin.

The Lure of Towers at World's Fairs

In my early days as a student of world's fairs, I was fascinated by the towers created at world's fairs. As a child, tall structures really have a greater power than perhaps they do as an adult. In architecture school, an interest in skyscrapers over more "artsy" buildings is looked down upon by many professors.

In the most recent expos, there haven't been as much a reliance on tall towers as a draw, but I think they were disfavored in more recent decades as being distractions from the more serious nature of world's fairs and can take away from the theme's goals.

I think they still have a power outside their own physical existence. 1889's Eiffel Tower, 1962's Space Needle, and even 1982's Sunsphere have a draw. San Antonio's Tower of the Americas from Hemisfair '68 just reopened with great fanfare.

I think the towers can provide a certain level of initial excitement about an exposition. It acts as an exclamation point to send the message that what's going on underneath is important.

For that reason, I was happy to hear that Expo 2010 will have a tower. Theirs will have, if you'll pardon the expression, a twist. They're using an existing chimney on the site to create an observation tower. To get to the top, visitors will ride roller-coaster-style cars.



By reusing the tower, they can illustrate the benefits of reusing existing structures instead of tearing them down to rebuild, thus fitting with the environmental aspects of the "Better City, Better Life" theme.

I know I can't wait to go up it in two years. I just wonder what the ride back down will be like!

The Expo '67 Site: 40 Years Later

I love visiting the sites of former world's fairs and finding little artifacts here and there.

There aren't many like me that could get excited at finding evidence of the foundation for the Australian Pavilion at site of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, but I know I'm not alone.

This wonderful collection of photos documents the same views of Montreal's Expo '67 site in 1967 and 2007.

Expo 2010 Theme Song and Mascot

Expo 2010's theme song was presented at the unveiling of Haibao, the Expo 2010 mascot.

I'm hoping to find translated lyrics in English soon.

The frame around the video screen is meant to convey the design of Chinese National Pavilion.