The China Pavilion is designed with the concept of "Oriental Crown". The traditional Chinese wooden structure architecture element -- Dougong brackets is introduced. The design concept, "the Oriental Crown, the Crest of Chinese, the Barn for the World and Wealthy People," reflects the deep accumulation of Chinese culture. The main colour of the China Pavilion is the traditional and sacred colour, "Gugong (Forbidden City) Red" which represents the taste and spirit of Chinese culture.
The Saudi Arabia Pavilion features a fine centerpiece: a huge hanging boat shaped like a half moon. The "moon boat" is loaded with dreams and friendship. Date palms have been planted on the top deck of the boat, creating a hanging garden, and thus epitomizing the oases in the desert. Visitors will receive a warm welcome in both modern as well as traditional Bedouin tents set among date palm trees.
The "Sensual City" itself is impressive with a large, classical roof garden and a pond. The walls of the square-shaped structure, which is made from a special concrete, are covered in plants and it looks like a white floating palace. Gardens are the centerpiece of the pavilion.
Our Pavilion is a striking, visual demonstration of the UK as a creative and innovative nation; exactly as Crystal Palace was in the very first Expo in London in 1851. Developed by one of the UK’s leading creative talents, Thomas Heatherwick, the centrepiece of the UK pavilion is a six storey high object formed from some 60,000 slender transparent rods, which extend from the structure and quiver in the breeze. During the day, each of the 7.5m long rods act like fibre-optic filaments, drawing on daylight to illuminate the interior, thereby creating a contemplative awe-inspiring space. At night, light sources at the interior end of each rod allow the whole structure to glow. The pavilion sits on a landscape looking like paper that once wrapped the building and that now lies unfolded on the site.
The aim of the German Pavilion is to provide inspiration on how quality of life and diversity in cities can be enhanced by ensuring that the elements of which they are composed interact in harmony. The balance between renewal and preservation, community and individual development and globalisation and nationality is the core topic of the exhibition and is also reflected in the pavilion’s architectural design.
Rather than being conceived as a building, the pavilion is meant to be a three-dimensional walk-through sculpture with no defined interior or exterior. Instead, the EXPO Plaza (the square in front of the German Pavilion) and the surrounding landscape will simply flow into the pavilion.
The Italian Pavilion represents and sums up the Italian proposal for the "City of man" in the near future: an urban model that can combine the cities’ requirements for renewal with the protection of history and the need to maintain a sustainable relationship with the territory. The spirit of the Pavilion, in fact, summarizes the common elements of the ancient Chinese and Italian cities and suggests a return to a simpler life based on human relations improved by the contribution of a viable and eco-sustainable environment .
The Spain Pavilion features among the largest of participating countries along with those of France, England, Germany and Italy. It is situated in section C of the grounds on the bank of Huangpu River and it neighbors Switzerland, Serbia, Poland, Belgium and France.
The Japan Pavilion combines traditional Japanese knowledge for living in harmony with the environment, such as ennoshita (the utility space under verandas) and uchimizu(the sprinkling of water by hands to reduce heat) with the latest environmental control and materials technology.
Vertical hollows are strategically placed in the pavilion to make use of ancient Japanese knowledge for maximum incorporation of the power of nature, such as bringing in sunlight, using stored rainwater, and circulating air naturally.
A cool environment is created with the generation of mist in areas where visitors will wait.
