Post-Expo Plans

The World Expo site will transform into a place for cultural exchanges, high-level exhibitions and public spaces for citizens after the event ends on October 31, according to Shanghai’s Vice Mayor Yang Xiong.The Expo Center, Culture Center and the Houtan Park along the Huangpu River will open to citizens as activity centers. Meanwhile, the city government will build an Expo 2010 Memorial Museum to house some of the pavilions’ innovative designs and exhibitions. In addition, the China Pavilion will get an extended run starting December 1 after a month off for maintenance after the Expo ends, the top official of the pavilion said.

 

The mystery of pavilions’ after life is again solved … at least partly …  for instance, the Czech Republic announced that it sold its Expo pavilion´s exhibition to the Czechoslovak-Chinese Friendship Farm, a conglomerate situated a several-hour ride away from Beijing. This farm was built in the 1950s with the help of  Czechoslovakia and employs 180,000 people.

The farm is said to rebuild the pavilion and to operate it so that it continue representing the Czech Republic. It will take 22 exhibits and works that can be removed from the pavilion to its premises after Expo ends.

 

The Europe Joint Pavilion, 2nd most popular attractions!

Here is below an interesting information based on a survey provided by Shanghai Daily and TouchMedia. You will learn that the 2nd most favorite pavilion in Shanghai, just behind the Chinese pavilion, is the Europe Joint Pavilion! You will find on this website some information on these small but interesting pavilions.

 
“The Europe Joint Pavilion has been voted one of the most popular Expo attractions among visitors, second only to the China Pavilion, a month-long survey in Shanghai revealed yesterday. The survey, arranged by Shanghai Daily and TouchMedia, was carried out last month among passengers on local taxis, and was based on answers from 137,391 people. 
While the China Pavilion was, unsurprisingly, the favorite, the Europe Joint Pavilion took second place, ahead of the Saudi Arabia, Germany and Japan pavilions, even though these had gained much more publicity. 
Agshin Aliyev, a media official with the Azerbaijan Pavilion inside the Europe Joint Pavilion, said he had heard the pavilion was popular with visitors and felt very happy about this. Aliyev explained that inside the joint pavilion visitors can see different cultures, different civilizations and different political systems. "People can experience many different cultures by visiting one pavilion."
An Expo worker told Shanghai Daily that the Europe Joint Pavilion is one of the few pavilions where visitors do not usually have to queue, thus ensuring that it would receive more visits than more high-profile pavilions. But when asked which pavilion they would like to see preserved after the Expo, nearly 20 percent of taxi passengers surveyed chose the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, followed by the Germany, Japan and United Kingdom pavilions.
Only the China Pavilion, along with the Expo Culture Center, the Expo Center, the Theme Pavilion and the Expo Boulevard will remain on the site after the Expo.…

Source: “Surprise visitor choice” by Jia Feishang (Shanghai Daily) 
Read more: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=451278&type=Metro#ixzz1223xb03E

Brussels based artist Eric Joris presents ground breaking technology at Belgian-EU Pavilion

Eric Joris and his art company CREW, present an extra-ordinary interactive performance called C.A.P.E., using state-of-the art 3D video-technology.
The performances take place:
> at the Belgian-EU Pavilion on Saturday 18, Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 September (afternoons) in the framework of the Brussels Days
> and at the Magda Gallery, Bund 18 on Sunday 19 September (from 18:00 onwards) in the framework of RESONANCE_New media week.

A selection of visitors can step into the installation and are invited to take a walk through Brussels. C.A.P.E. (Computer Automated Personal Environment) is a newly developed immersive technology tool that can shift visitors to a different time and space, in no time.
Come and discover Brussels in an entirely novel way and experience for yourself what the future of cinema might be like!

Production: CREW (Eric Joris)
Curator Christophe De Jaeger, assistant curator Pieter Vermeulen.
C.A.P.E. in China is produced in the framework of Brussels Days, with the support of the Brussels Region (Minister of External Affairs, Mr. Vanraes)

More information:
CREW, Brussels www.crewonline.org
World Expo, Belgian-EU Pavilion, Shanghai: September 18, 20, 21, 22 / www.shanghai2010.be

European Green Capitals: Looking to Cities of the Future

The European Commission, the City of Stockholm and the City of Hamburg are co-organising a conference on Sustainable Urban Development at the Belgian-EU Pavilion on 8 September.

The European Green Capital Award (EGCA) is awarded each year to a city, though not necessarily a capital, which is leading the way in environmentally-friendly urban living and which can act as an inspirational role model for other cities. The EGCA recognises and rewards the efforts made at local level to improve not only the environment and the economy, but also quality of life for urban populations, which are growing across Europe.

With four out of five Europeans living in towns and cities, the creation of the award is timely. Most of the environmental challenges facing our society originate from urban areas, and these urban areas can bring together the commitment and innovation needed to resolve them.

The first two proud winners are Stockholm for 2010 and Hamburg for 2011, which were both recognised for their ‘consistent record of achieving high environmental standards' and 'commitment to ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development'.

On 8 September, the European Commission, the City of Stockholm and the City of Hamburg are co-organising a one-day conference at the Shanghai Expo on sustainable urban development, entitled "European Green Capitals: Looking to Cities of the Future".

At the conference, representatives from these two first European Green Capitals will share their views on sustainable urban development and use concrete examples to illustrate how it is possible to improve quality of life for Europe's city-dwellers. The City of Wuxi and the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau will also showcase their best practices. The conference will demonstrate the ambitious vision and green urban mindset needed for Cities of the Future. If cities want to prosper, they must learn to safeguard the natural resources that underpin their economies and quality of life for their growing urban populations.

For a programme, more information and to register, please click here:
green-capitals.shanghaiexpo.eu
or send an e-mail to green-capitals(at)shanghaiexpo.eu

For more information about the European Green Capital Award, please click here: www.europeangreencapital.eu

 

Source: http://www.newsshanghai2010.be/nl/european-green-capitals-looking-to-cities-of-the-future-258.htm

Hungary Day at Expo

Country’s Expo day focuses on ways Hungary and China can work together. Hungary capped off its Aug. 22 pavilion day at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo with the signing of a cooperation agreement between several of the country’s water industry companies and Chinese government officials, a move that not only continues to strengthen relations between the two countries, but also serves to further develop the water industry in terms of technology, construction and scientific exchange between the two regions.

 

Hungary is also using this Expo to try and brand itself as a place of “harmony,” which is very much in line with China’s own mantra of harmonious society, a cornerstone to the country’s current leadership. 

The centerpiece to the Hungary pavilion is the world’s largest Gömböc, a convex three-dimensional object that, when resting on a flat surface, has just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium, and what the pavilion calls “harmony itself.” If placed on a horizontal surface in an arbitrary position, the Gömböc returns to a stable equilibrium point. The Gömböc consists of homogenous material, thus the shape itself accounts for self-righting. As two Hungarian scientists created the Gömböc, it is the only object to have two equilibrium points, finding stability instantly no matter what position it is placed in, and is revered for its simplistic display of a geometric mathematical problem. 

Source: http://shanghaiexpo.eu/email/newsletter19/enews1.html