The New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 2010

January 27, 2010

The New Zealand Pavilion

Along with an exhibition space that marries the theme of the World expo Shanghai 2010 – “Better City, Better Life” – with the nature and culture of New Zealand, the New Zealand Pavilion will include VIP visitor facilities where New Zealand businesses and organisations can host actual or prospective customers and clients. It will also provide a platform to promote tourism, education and sister city activities.

The world expo 2010 theme, “Better City, Better Life”, highlights the new thinking, new technologies and new practices for achieving healthy and sustainable urban living. Aligned with these concepts, the New Zealand Pavilion will follow the theme, “Cities of Nature, Living between Land and Sky”.

The aim of the pavilion is to present a welcoming vision of a nation that is striving to bring its cities into a sustainable balance with nature; a country in which natural beauty, the inspiration that it brings, and the lifestyles that it permits, can exist alongside and contribute to a modern and innovative first world economy.

In its form and content the pavilion takes inspiration from the Maori creation story in which the god Tane separated his parents, the Sky and the Earth, to create space both for the natural world and for human beings.

The visitor experience will focus on the constant presence of nature in New Zealand’s urban life and the benefits which it brings – in terms of inspiration and the encouragement of innovation in business, art and culture, in our economy, and in our everyday lifestyle.

The location

The expo Shangai 2010 will be held on a 528 hectare site located between the Nanpu and Lupu Bridges along both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai.

The pavilion will be located in one of the prime sites at the expo, close to the host country's pavilion and alongside the enormous theme pavilion. It will be adjacent to the main walkway and will be seen by virtually every visitor to the expo.

The design

The winning tender for the design and build of the New Zealand Pavilion was submitted by a consortium comprised of international project management company Coffey Projects, architects Warren and Mahoney, visitor experience specialists Story Inc, quantity surveyors Rider Levett Bucknall leading garden designer Kim Jarrett, and technical integration company Toulouse Ltd, with engineers Beca joining the team.

The distinctive wedge-shaped pavilion will have a projected capacity of 40,000 visitors per day. It will cover approximately 75 percent of a 2000- square-metre corner site, close to both the China Pavilion and the China Theme Pavilion, and beside the main elevated walkway.

The Pavilion will comprise four visitor experience areas, described below.

Welcome space

The front entrance to the world expo Shanghai 2010 pavilion is a welcoming veranda, a lofty canopy supported by a forest of pillars interspersed with shorter pou (pillars), many of them interactive, providing shelter for visitors watching cultural performances and queuing for entry to the interior.

Cities of Nature experience

Inside the wedge, visitors will walk along a winding ramp that gradually rises up, taking them through a “day in the life” of a New Zealand family in a composite New Zealand city in a natural setting: from the mountains to the sea, past farmlands and bush and back towards the mountains, through a beachhouse, a school classroom and an office building.

The journey will ask the question “what is a ‘better life’?” and give some possible answers in a series of sequences that look at different aspects of our “cities of nature”. Each sequence will consist of audio-visual projections, graphics, lighting and set elements.

Garden and wild places walk

Visitors will exit the Cities of Nature experience near the top of the wedge, and will then walk back down towards the veranda area through a garden planted with New Zealand trees and flowers, and making use of sculptural elements, audio and lighting.

VIP experience

An elegant mezzanine hospitality area located on the east side of the pavilion will be capable of hosting up to 40 guests for formal dining, or 80 for cocktail functions. It will also include a separate meeting / dining room for up to 12 people.

Topics : New Zealand Pavilion at the World Expo Shanghai 2010 China. Source: New Zealand Trade & Enterprise.

New Zealand at Shanghai World Expo 2010

The World Expo to be held in Shanghai, China in 2010 will be the biggest in world history. During the six months the Expo will be open - 1 May to 31 October 2010 - it is expected to draw 70 million visitors.

This presents an opportunity for New Zealand to make a favourable impression to a huge audience in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The New Zealand Pavilion, now nearing completion at the Expo site and the Expo Business Programme, are designed to meet this goal.

The 2010 World Expo Shanghai and the New Zealand Pavilion offers New Zealand businesses the opportunity develop and build international relationships in China, and host their guests in an environment that features a unique showcase of New Zealand culture, innovation and technology.

In this section, learn about the New Zealand Pavilion at the World Expo Shangai 2010 and how to utilise New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Expo Business Programme, get booking details and information to help you plan your visit to Expo and China, meet some of the New Zealand Pavilion sponsors, and find news and updates about New Zealand's participation at World Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Topics : New Zealand at the World Expo Shanghai 2010. Source: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

New Zealand recounts Maori myth in dream journey

New Zealand World Expo Shanghai 2010 News : New Zealand's team finally unveiled the country's Expo 2010 pavilion's exhibition design - a dream-like journey about the Maori story of creation.

The pavilion's theme, "Cities of Nature: Living between Land and Sky," was inspired by the Maori creation story of Tane (the forest god), who separated his parents Rangi and Papa (Sky Father and Earth Mother) to create the world in which we live.

Architecturally, the wedge-shaped pavilion extends the story into a three act play – the welcoming space (plaza), the interior, and the rooftop garden, said Dean Cato, director of Story Inc, creator of "The Lord of the Rings" international touring exhibition.

The dream team of New Zealand's award-winning designers comprises Story Inc, Plan 9, the music composer for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and Kim Jarrett, greens master for King Kong.

Through a wide range of artistic and aesthetic devices including screen towers, soundtracks and garden greenery, the titans of New Zealand's film industry are bringing to life the Maori story reprised in modern New Zealand "cities of nature."

The heart of the pavilion is a 1.8-ton pounamu (jade) boulder.

"We invite visitors to come and touch the precious stone," said Phillip Gibson, New Zealand commissioner general for the Expo.

"As visitors touch the precious stone, they will be touching the heart of New Zealand."


The pounamu symbolizes the convergence of two jade cultures, as the Chinese and indigenous Maori of New Zealand share a common reverence for jade.

The welcoming space in front of the pavilion is a physical manifestation of Rangi and Papa. The white canopy in the plaza representing Sky is supported by white pillars that represent a vertical forest. It is erected on the forecourt that symbolizes Earth.

Starting with a little girl's dream of Rangi and Papa when dawn breaks in her bedroom at Auckland Harbour, visitors will touch upon some common scenes in New Zealanders' life.

The chronological journey starts at dawn and ends at dusk, traversing the seasons from spring to winter and moving along various landscapes from the sea to the mountain, with suburbs and cities in between.

Walking along the gently sloping walkway, visitors will see the girl's mother making breakfast in a beach house, the girl drawing her dream at school and the girl's father at work. The final station is a New Zealand house in the hillside, where the girl is showing her parents and grandparents her drawing of the creation story.

This "day-in-the-life" journey is beautifully complemented by a rhythm soundtrack across the entire interior of the pavilion and melody soundtracks along each of the five stations. The soundtracks are composed by New Zealand's award-winning Plan 9, which composed the music of "The One Ring" for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

The pavilion's rooftop garden is designed by Dawnfinder, New Zealand's renowned design duo of Kim Jarrett and Tina Hart specializing in gardens and landscapes. Jarrett was the greens master for "King Kong," constructing prehistoric jungles, swamps, and coast lines for the movie shot in Wellington.

There will be the Gondwanaland in the garden. The land was first created by the separation of Rangi and Papa at the dawn of time, and will feature ponga (tree ferns) shipped from New Zealand.

Visitors will then walk by a thermal lake, which is common in the Rotorua region in the North Island of New Zealand. Mist, steam, and air cannons will create the illusion of hot water bubbling in the thermal lake, which is from the korokoro (throat) of Ruaumoko, the youngest son of Rangi and Papa and the god of the underworld, according to the Maori myth.

Walking down the pathway visitors will encounter the forest valley and the South Pacific Sanctuary, featuring a planted arbour that uses Maori weaving techniques,

The pathway will end with a Pohutukawa tree. The Pohutukawa tree, which blooms with red flowers in December, has become synonymous with the New Zealand Christmas.

The budget of the pavilion is US$25 million.

Topics : New Zealand Pavilion at World Expo Shanghai 2010, The World Exposition Shanghai China 2010, Expo Shangai 2010. Source: Expo2010.cn