Exposition

The Italian Pavilion at the Shanghai World Exposition. Night shot from the Holland Pavilion.

Three days of looking at the World Expo 2010 and what have I got from it all? The expo was big, a culmination of the world distilled to the essence of that nation/city, or at least, what the pavilion's designer wanted you to think. In this way, the world expo was alike to a mammoth advertisement for the world. What about creativity, did this massive event pull its weight in our creative knowledge?

I think it did, in some ways better than others. In most of the pavilions I saw, a specific desire to show a nation's best in design, architecture, or culture were brought to the table. Only through well thought through design was that even possible - the spaces all reminded me of exhibition spaces but combined with performance and areas where you could experience some aspect of that country.

Also of note was all the different ways the pavilions used projection and LED screens. I have never seen such a range of presentation methods in one go before and some of the effects were genuinely breathtaking. Gone are the days of a simple screen projection layout. To gather more attention, one had to do more. Back projection, the so called 4D effects, 360 degree projection clips... as much as the content was a creative endeavor, it goes to show that the way in which it is presented can be just as important to create the desired result.

More about specific pavilions when I have the time to post them :)