The Danish pavilion for EXPO 2010 Shanghai
The Danish pavilion at EXPO 2010 is called Welfairytales – a blend of the words welfare and fairy tales. In an exciting and interactive way, it presents Denmark using elements that Denmark and China have in common. With Welfairytales, Denmark wants to show that welfare is not just about wealth. It is the opportunity to live a life that is humanly as well as environmentally coherent.
Welfairytales
A Welfairytale is when lifestyle, consumption and growth go hand in hand with sustainability and social consideration. Welfairytales are stories about what we are good at in Denmark, namely to act holistically with an eye for both the human factor and the global implications. Welfairytales is more than a traditional exhibition pavilion. It is an opportunity to try out Danish city life. You can jump on a city bike, meet the Danes, their lives and dreams. You can let the children loose on the playground. You can enjoy an organic picnic and dip your toes in the water by the Little Mermaid.
Welfairytales is an invitation to take part in a new fairytale. A fairytale about quality of life and how to design cities where human well-being and a better environment are two sides of the same coin.
The real deal
The Danish pavilion will give visitors the experience of what it is really like in Danish cities. Because, something you have tried yourself is much more memorable than something you have just seen on display.
As it is impossible to build an entire Danish city in Shanghai, the pavilion will give visitors the opportunity to try some of the best aspects of Danish city life themselves. Visitors will be able to ride around the pavilion by city bike, visit a great playground, have an organic picnic in the roof garden and interact with the exhibition and really become a part of the world of the Danes.
The Little Mermaid
In the heart of the pavilion you will find the Mermaid Pool filled with water from Copenhagen harbour. The Little Mermaid will sit in the centre of the basin, out in the open – just as she does in Copenhagen.
The Little Mermaid has been sitting on Langelinie in Copenhagen since 1913. The idea is to move her from Copenhagen to Shanghai as a gesture of cultural generosity and also an invitation to a cultural dialogue between Denmark and China. While the mermaid is in Shanghai, her place in Copenhagen will be temporarily taken over by sculptures created by Chinese artists.
We hope that it will be a great experience for the Chinese public to get close to The Little Mermaid and we expect that she will contribute to making the Danish pavilion even more popular among visitors.
Experience Denmark
Like a Danish city, the Danish pavilion is best experienced on foot and by bike. The pavilion consists of two orbits – an outdoor and an indoor – united in one coherent story. The outdoor orbit constitutes a Danish cycle path, a roof park with a playground and a picnic area. The indoor orbit connects to the Expo area’s ground plan and houses the exhibition, conference room and workplaces.
The loops are connected in two places. Coming from the inside, the visitors can move out onto the roof, pick up a bike and re-visit the exhibition by bike as the outdoor cycle path becomes an indoor cycle path that runs through part of the exhibition.
In this manner the exhibition can be experienced in two speeds, as a calm stroll with time to absorb the surroundings and as a dynamic bicycle trip, where the city and city life rush past. Welfairytales re-launches the bicycle in Shanghai as a symbol of lifestyle and sustainable urban development. When Expo closes, the pavilion can be moved to another site in China.
The living fairytale book
The pavilion exhibition is an unfolded living fairytale book. The fairytale book will combine images, film, words and sound and invites visitors to try out the Welfairytales themselves. You don’t just read about the city bike, you can ride it. You don’t just read about nature and ecology in the city, you can visit the playground on the roof and have an organic picnic.
The living fairytale book has three chapters:
Tales of how we live
This chapter is the story about how the Danes live and how they adapt to the city. Stories showing how one can create cities, where quality of life and sustainability are in focus, will be featured.
Tales of what we love
This chapter is about the Danes and their personal stories about what makes life worth living. These are personal fairytales about the real issues of developing the cities of the future – namely the issues of providing people with the right settings for a happy life.
Tales of where we’re going
This chapter is about Danish technologies and solutions that can improve life in the cities of tomorrow. This could be the story of wind energy, heating, building techniques or fashion and design – or other examples of sustainable ideas for improving the future.
This chapter is also about our vision of a united Danish/Chinese future, where Danish/Chinese collaboration within technology and the knowledge industry can contribute to improving life in the cities of the future.
The construction
The geometry of the Pavilion is a modified logarithmic spiral on plan, and is rectangular in section of around 10 m wide by 4.5 m high for the typical section. Each 90° section of the spiral is divided into 8, with a steel frame at each division. This results in a frame spacing of around 5 m.
The first stage of the geometry has its starting point at the core, after which the rectangular tube section moves along the ground through a quarter-circle. The second stage launches into a cantilever which rises to 7.5m above the ground, completes the remaining 270° and connects again to the core, directly above the starting section. In the third stage, the tube continues around the spiral, angling downwards inside the plan of the original curve, turning through 360° and meeting the starting point on the ground.
The EXPO organisation
The Danish pavilion at EXPO 2010 is financed by The Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs as well as by diverse foundations and business partners. The Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs owns the project and the actual implementation of the project is managed by the EXPO Secretariat.
The Danish contribution to EXPO 2010 is organised by a National Committee, with HRH The Crown Prince of Denmark as Chairman. The committee further comprises Realdania, A.P. Moller - Maersk, GRUNDFOS, Vestas, The Danish Agricultural Council and The New Carlsberg Foundation.
If you have questions concerning EXPO 2010 Shanghai, please contact the Expo Secretariat
The Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority
Dahlerups Pakhus
Langelinie Alle 17
DK- 2100 Copenhagen
John Hansen
Project Director
Tel. dir. 0045 3546 6376
Mobile 0045 4056 2266
E-mail: jha@ebst.dk
Stine L. Guldmann
Deputy Project Director/Project Manager
Tel. dir. 0045 3546 6057
Mobile 0045 2075 7888
E-mail: slg@ebst.dk
Lotta Salling
Project Manager
Tel. dir. 0045 3546 6544
Mobile 0045 2075 7898
E-mail: lsa@ebst.dk
The Danish pavilion is produced by BIG Architects, in collaboration with 2+1 Ideas Agency and Arup Engineers.
BIG
BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group, is a Copenhagen based group of 85 architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development.
2+1 Ideas Agency
2+1 is a Copenhagen based ideas agency specializing in branding, concept development and communication.
ARUP AGU
Arup is a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants providing a diverse range of professional services to clients around the world.
