Expo 2010 will have five theme pavilions, namely, Urbanian, City Being, Urban Planet, Footprint and Future. The first three are housed in the Theme Pavilion in Zone B where the building’s design is inspired by the “paper folding” technique, making it one of the landmarks at the Expo. During the period of Expo, a wide range of events and ceremonies will be held in the building's three squares. The other two pavilions, Footprint and Future, are located in two modified industrial buildings in Zone D and Zone E respectively; they represent a fascinating mix of tradition and modernity.
1. Pavilion of Urban Planet (zone B)
Source: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_qy_tpl_275.htmTheme
Humanity in symbiosis with city and planet
Pavilion Features
- The pavilion is located in the Theme Pavilion building in Zone B.
- The top of two parallel spiral ramps offers a good view of a 32-meter-diameter globe.
- Its five sections including "Blue Planet" and "The Only Planet We Have" tell how the development, sometimes overdevelopment, of cities produces ecological problems, and how people awaken to urbanization and environmental challenges.
- Visitors come to understand cities as a source of both problems and solutions.
Pavilion Display
- Blue Planet is a huge globe that represents the earth.
- In a poetic and metaphorical way, it tells how cities, urban development and human behaviors impact the earth. "The Only Planet We Have" is an interesting short movie about the interaction between cities, the earth and people.
2. Pavilion of City Being (zone B)
Theme
The city, like a living being, needs the protection of humanity to remain healthy
Pavilion Features
- The pavilion is situated in the Theme Pavilion building in Zone B.
- The theme of life, or the city's journey of life, runs through all its exhibitions.
- In a metaphorical way with high scientific technologies, a city is compared to a living being consisting of body and soul. Metabolism and circulation are important for it to function properly.
- Constant adjustment between man and a city is the key for the health of the city being.
- "Vigor Station" has five "kiosks" which represent population, logistics, energy, finance and information.
- The LCD display shows, on a real-time basis, the train, flight, ship, stock and foreign exchange information in the world's major cities.
- "Circulation System" leads visitors through vast underground pipes.
- The Pipeline section has many interactive features to highlight the vulnerability of cities and inspire visitors to contemplate their responsibilities towards the protection of cities.
- The City Plazas section features movies about five world-renowned city plazas and provides a clue to the cultural identities of different cities.
- The "library" in the City Street section tries to use ten books to show how ten cities' rise or fall impacts the life of people.
3. Pavilion of Urban Planet (zone B)
Source: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_qy_tpl_273.htmTheme
Overall human development is a prerequisite for sustainable development of cities
Pavilion Features
- Urbanian Pavilion, focusing on the needs and development of people, tells the stories of people in cities.
- In its five sections, "Family," "Work," "Contact," "Learning" and "Health," visitors will see the videos of six real families from six cities of five continents.
- Together with the exhibits, settings and multimedia installations, the sight of 11 cities are racily showed.
- Visitors will have a vivid view of city dwellers' life and it is the pursuiting of a better life that draws people to urban areas.
- In the Family section, the mirrors mounted from floor to ceiling create 3-dimension pictures, as if providing visitors a window through which they can observe the lives of the six families.
- A gigantic machine, metaphorized as "factory, stock exchange and clock" is installed in the Work section.
- Screens of varying sizes are mounted on it to demonstrate how people work in different cities.
- The Contact section uses a full-dome screen to create a 360-degree projection to show the social life of different family members.
- The Learning section creates a circumstance resembling the traditional classroom and library, and shows the learning experiences of family members and the educational and cultural facilities in cities.
- The Health section shows the videos and other data concerning the health of family members and creates an environment that is clean, fresh and healthy.
4. Pavilion of Footprint (zone D)
Theme
Footprints left as a result of people's interaction with cities and the environment from
Pavilion Features
- The Pavilion is located in Zone D and includes three exhibition halls - "City's Origin," "Growing City" and "Urban Wisdom."
- It traces the birth and growth of cities, their philosophies and the urban wisdom centering innovation and harmony.
- City's Origin Hall shows what cities looked like in the early agrarian era.
- Visitors may have a chance to understand the reasons behind the formation of cities including those along Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, ancient worship systems, patron saints of ancient cities, among others.
- Growing City Hall shows full-blown cities, including Florence, Amsterdam, Byzantium and Istanbul.
- Visitors may have a chance to see ancient streets in China's Song Dynasty and Japan's Edo Period, and know more about urban development achievements in Tibet and about the Forbidden City in Beijing.
- Urban Wisdom Hall deals with the Industrial Revolution era.
- Industrialization is depicted as a double-edged sword that changes the life in cities.
- New York and London are cited as two examples of innovative wisdom.
- The exhibition also includes the culture of the Chinese Grand Canal and the urban renewal efforts in Shanghai.
5. Pavilion of Future (zone E)
Theme
Dream inspires the future of cities
Pavilion Features
- The Pavilion is located in Zone E.
- The exhibition starts with an interaction with visitors, inviting them to imagine what cities will be like in the future.
- Through movies, books and sculptures, it tells how a city was envisaged, planned and realized in history, proposes the various possibilities of a future city, and points to the spiritual elements that have always driven human progress.
- Dream of Yesterday section features a gigantic screen for science-fiction movies.
- Dream and Practice section uses digital books to present how people used to depict future cities.
- Nine sculptures are displayed to echo the theme of better city.
- In the Multiple Possibilities section, an animated film is shown at a 36-meter-high screen.
- Five dreamlike street settings, namely Ecological City, City of Wisdom, City of Water, Space City and City of Energy, displayed on the background around, describe the various possibilities of city development and life in the future.
- The displays in the Dream Is Approaching section focus on Intel l igent Home, Healthy Community, Low-Carbon City and Harmonious Environment.
- They will help visitors to understand the trend of technological advancement.
