- Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a
World's Fair held inHanover ,Germany fromJune 1 toOctober 31 ,2000 . It was located on theHanover fairground (Messegelände Hannover, which is famous for hostingCeBIT ). The fair was not a financial success.Fact|date=December 2007The fair's masterplan was designed in a joint venture with Studio d'Arnaboldi / Cavadini, Locarno and AS&P (Albert Speer und Partner GmbH).
History
Background
On
June 14 ,1990 the international world's fair organizationB.I.E. awarded Expo 2000 to Hanover, beating out other cities such asToronto . In 1992 the architects Studio Arnaboldi/Cavadini of Locarno win an international design competition for the masterplan of the exhbition grounds. On June 12 of that same year a survey conducted by the city council was made public showing only 51.5% of area residents supported hosting the expo.Construction
On
May 5 ,1994 a new company was created by the government in Bonn Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung und Durchführung der Weltausstellung EXPO 2000 in Hannover (EXPO 2000 Hanover GmbH). Headed by chairman Helmut Werner, the company was responsible for the construction and management of the fair.In 1995 the supervisory board agreed on the concept for the thematics of the fair. Construction finally began on
April 22 ,1996 .Unlike previous expos, which focused on present advances in science and technology, EXPO 2000 focused more on developing and presenting solutions for the future.
The Fair
The fair opened to the public on
June 1 2000 and ran six months, ending on October 31.The Expo site was situated on the original 1,000,000 square meters of the
Hannover Fair; an additional 600,000 m² was also made available as a newly opened section to the grounds. As a visitor walked in and tickets were taken, looking above to the approximately 4-story-high ceiling, a visitor would have noticed the huge circular pods that held large TVs showing animated people greeting the visitors and providing tourist information in different languages. Some ten largeMcDonalds restaurants were also built, along with restaurants representing several of the exhibitor countries. Small retail locations were also setup to supply Expo merchandise. TheUnited States reversed its decision to take part at a relatively late stage, and the area set aside for the American pavilion was left undeveloped.40,000,000 visitors were expected at Expo 2000, but only 25,210,000 people came to see the event. This led to a financial deficit of about $600,000,000. With pre-ordered tickets priced at 69 DM, the fair seemed expensive compared to other days out. Commentator Georg Giersberg wrote in the "
Frankfurter Allgemeine " that entrance fees for Germany's 53 main theme parks cost on average less than half the price as the Expo (about 30 DM). Other financial shortfalls came from a lack of corporate sponsorship in which it cost US$4.8 million to be an official product supplier or US$14.5 million to become a world partner. Part of the failure of the Expo was a lack of clear perception of what to expect at Expo 2000, not helped by a "cerebral" advertising campaign that had failed to explain what the Expo was for. In a 2000Time magazine article a Berlin-based marketing firm Scholz & Friends stated that "the organizers have failed to convey to the public a clear image of what Expo 2000 is going to be: an entertainment park, a blown-up museum, or a nature reserve." In the same article Ralf Strobach, secretary of "Hanover's Citizens' Initiative for Environment Protection", said that "For a long time, companies were unsure if they would be putting money in an eco-show or a showcase for their latest inventions."Only after the fair was open and clearly not meeting expectations was a new advertising campaign, aimed at the domestic market, with British actor
Peter Ustinov and German television star Verona Feldbusch created, stressing the fun side of the Expo, under the slogan "Das gibt's nur einmal, es kommt nie wieder" ("This only happens once, it's never coming back"), replacing the previous campaign.The German band
Kraftwerk created a vocoded speech signature theme Expo 2000, which was also developed into a single of the same name. Later a remix single "Expo Remix" was released. The band was also paid US$190,000 for a five-second jingle, leading to ChancellorGerhard Schröder to state that he "wouldn't have spent so much money".Pavilions
Themed pavilions
*Chile
*Knowledge,
*Mobility,
*Work
*Energy
*Nutrition
*Environment
*Basic Needs
*Pavilion #5 - "Health Futures / Zukunft Gesundheit"Nations
In total, 155 nations took part. Some notable ones are outlined below:
*Finland - Titled "Wind Nest", the building was created by architects Sarlotta Narjus and Antti-Matti Siikala. A four-storey twin building, each measuring 50 x 7.5m each were clad in heat-treated thermowood. The two buildings were connected by bridges allowing visitors to move amongst the three exhibit halls on the first two stories. A 15 m wide birch forest was also created.
*Germany - Designed by architect Wund Gruppe the 24,000 m² building was the largest nation pavilion at Expo.
*Spain - Designed with the theme "Familiarity and Solidarity" [http://www.expo-int.com/web2005/exposiciones/hanover/index.htm Spain Pavilion Website]
*Netherlands located at '3' Europa Boulevard, the Dutch pavilion was one of the most popular buildings winning international acclaim and was designed by the firm MVRDV. The theme of the 36 m high building (the fairs tallest structure) was "Holland creates Space". Six Holland eco-system landscapes were stacked to showcase how a country can make the most out of a small space. Guests entered on the ground floor and using grand exterior staircases (that wrapped around the building) as to move through the exhibit space. The top level contained a small lake surrounded with windmills that generated power for the building. The interior spaces were designed by 'MET Studio'. The original plan was to dismantle the building and move it back to Amsterdam, but it was determined that it would be much cheaper to just create a new building from scratch. As of 2006 the building sits empty and is partially looted with windows smashed, and garbage everywhere. [http://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/photos/architecture/mvrdv_expo2000.html Photos of the building in its current state] also visit: [http://www.dutchpavilion.nl/ for more updates on the pavilion] .
*Portugal - Designed by architects Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto de Moura the 2,350 square meters pavilion was located on the "Europa Boulevard". The prefab building was covered with around 55 tons of expanded cork agglomerate and with hand-made glazed tiles on the patio. The two story building was covered with a double glass fibre canvas membrane roof. [http://www.hannover2000.mct.pt/ Portugal Pavilion Website]
*UAE United Arab Emirates - The 3000 square meter pavilion was situated on a 6000 meter plot (the largest of the Expo sites), was a recreated desert fort. Designed by the French architect
Alain Durand-Heriot the exhibit tried to recreate the feeling of being in the Arab state. The main attraction was a 360 circular cinema. The building was 84 m x 36 m, and built out of recyclable materials. The theme of the pavilion was "From the traditional to the modern", and presented the history of the country.*Japan - The Japanese Pavilion was a
gridshell structure made out of recycled paper tubes. Creating a honeycomb like building. The German authorities refused to allow a paper only structure, literally held together at the joints by tape, so a secondary supporting structure made of wood was created to get the needed legal approval. Designed by architect:Shigeru Ban along with consultants:Frei Otto (German architect who created theOlympic Stadium (Munich) and the German pavilion atExpo 67 in Montreal),Buro Happold (British engineering firm which created theMillennium Dome ) and Stefan Polonyi (a structural engineer professor). The completed building took 3 weeks to assemble and covered an exhibit area of 72m (long) x 35 m (wide) x 15.5m (high), pavilion lot size: 5.450 m² and building surface area: 3.600 m².*Latvia - about 300.000 people participated in the "Zime" project created by
Armands Strazds andModris Tenisons . [http://www.zime.lv]*Lithuania - Pavilion was designed by Marina and Audrius Bucas, Gintaras Kuginys, Valdas Ozarinskas and Aida Ceponyte. The building was a futuristic glossy yellow. The main attraction was the film "Flight over Lithuania".
*Venezuela - The Pavilion was a tensegrity structure which opened and closed like a flower. It was very lightweight, was constructed with no waste and completely re-usable. The flower petals were positioned according to the weather, to shade, keep dry or allow sun to shine on the pavilion. It was designed by
Buro Happold andJosep Ignasi de Llorens Duran .*EU European Union - The pavilion presented the European Union's vision of Europe. The walk-through exhibit was divided into seven zones: 50's, Time Shuttle, Euro, Blue Planet, Bridge, Tunnel, Here and Now. [http://europa.eu.int/expo2000/pavilion/index_en.htm Pavilion Webpage]
Other Pavilions
*BMW World - The exhibit focused on
BMW 's efforts to create clean energy operated vehicles. Displayed was the BMW 750hL Clean Energy car. There was also exhibits on the idea of driving your car using the sun and water. Daimler Chrysler also operated Lab.01 an interactive laboratory showcasing mobility devices including mini-robots.*Bertelsmann - "Planet" pavilion
*WWF (
World Wildlife Fund ) - Pavilion*Global House - The building housed the One World Cafe and a variety of exhibits, including Indigenous Peoples' Wisdom from the Earth a display of 26 initiatives by indigenous groups from around the globe. Each initiative was shown in a flight case and featured text, images, and in many cases, contemporary handicraft. The exhibit, which offered indigenous people the opportunity to represent themselves at a World's Fair, was the first of its kind.
Expo 2000 Projects
* [http://www.lost-paradise-lost.de/ Lost Paradise Lost] - art meets church
* [http://www.regenwaldhaus.de/ Rain Forest House] - hear, smell, taste and feel the diversity of the tropical highland rain forest
* [http://www.zoo-hannover.de/ Hannover Zoo] - where the animals can live in conditions similar to their natural habitats
* [http://www.derwal.de/ Expo Whale] - the remarkable World Vision pavillon now used as an event centre and seat of the incredible churchLegacy
Some of the buildings on the EXPO site were sold after EXPO 2000 ended, but most of the exhibition area is still used for major fairs in Germany, as it has been since 1949. The South-Eastern area around
Expo Plaza has been turned into Hanover's new centre of information technology, design, media and arts.Most of the national pavilion buildings were demolished following the fair. Some buildings (far more than in any other world expositions) were 'saved' including the Netherlands Pavilion. The structure has now fallen into disrepair.
ee also
*
Hannover Principles External links
* [http://www.bmwworld.com/expo_2000.htm BMW World at Expo]
* [http://www.expo2000.org/ Exposeeum] - see what is left from EXPO
* [http://www.expomuseum.com/2000 Expo 2000 page at ExpoMuseum] - online world's fair museum
* [http://www.filmbilder.de/en/s/history/expo.htm# German Pavilion Mainshow Video]
* [http://www.designboom.com/history/ban_expo.html More about the Japanese Pavilion]
* [http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/0828/expos.html Failure of Expo 2000 (Time Magazine)]
* [http://www.expowal.dobro.de Christian Expo 2000 Wallpaper]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
