| Architect | Schmidhuber + Kaindl GmbH, München |
| Lighting designer | E³ Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Altenbeken; Thomas Roscher, Bonn |
| Photographer | Michael Wolf, Andreas Keller |
| Project location | Shanghai |
To the city in equilibrium with much technology. Going by the name of "Balancity", the German Pavilion in Shanghai has developed into one of the crowd-pullers of the World Fair.
The German Pavilion was one of the crowd-pullers at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Halfway through, at the end of July, the organisers had already recorded two million visitors; queuing times of 3 to 4 hours were more or less patiently accepted by the predominantly Chinese guests. Visitors can expect a tour de force through the many facets of today's Germany; although, the presentation of technology and the visions of the future would not be complete without the clichéd stereotypes of history and German home comforts.
Constructed from metal-fabric, the shimmering silver outer skin emphasises the technoid complexity of the volumes and intermediate spaces that constitute the German Pavilion. Tesis in-ground luminaires and Beamer projectors with efficient metal halide lamps add scenic lighting to the building shell.
A design exhibition informs visitors about the state of the art of German industrial products (right). Acting as both lighting tool and exhibit: the track-mounted Cantax spotlights are "made in Germany" to Naoto Fukasawa's design.
In the pavilion's metaphorical "Energy Centre" (left), the three-metre-diameter "disco ball" hanging in the middle of the room is set in motion by the sheer volume of visitors' calls and their applause. To augment the scenic display, Quadra wallwashers with varychrome LED technology illuminate the hall's rear wall with intensive, changing colours.
The building shell's use of crystalline forms is continued in the pavilion's service areas. As seen, for instance, in the restaurant or in the VIP Lounge (below), which is fitted out with Lightcast downlights and Quadra wallwashers.
Expo Shanghai:
1st of May to 31st of October 2010
German Pavilion:
www.expo2010-deutschland.de
Architecture and master planning:
Schmidhuber + Kaindl GmbH, Munich
www.schmidhuber.de
Exhibition and media design:
Milla und Partner GmbH, Stuttgart
Execution and project management:
Nüssli (Deutschland) GmbH, Roth
www.nussli.com
Lighting design:
E³ Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Altenbeken
Thomas Roscher, Bonn
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