Source of Energy - The Heart of the Germany Pavilion

Source of Energy

Among the various exhibitions in the Germany Pavilion at Expo 2010, we appreciate the "Source of Energy" the most. This is the highlight of the Germany Pavilion. The show is very impressive. It is really a fantastic and marvelous journey.

After we had finished our tours moving around from one section to another section of exhibition in the Germany Pavilion, we subsequently came to the last part of the exhibitions. Going down stair and through a door, we got into a large hall where was rather dark. We then found ourselves standing among crowds of people who were spreading around a large circular hollow space. Seeing through a metal-wire barrier, we spotted a giant sphere hanging in the air at the center of the hall. When the show started with glimpse of lights on the metal sphere, we recognized that people were standing around the sphere in different levels. There were around several hundreds of people at a time watching the ten-minute show performed by a 2,000kg metal sphere. We later on learned that the sphere was 3 meters in diameter and covered with hundred thousands of LEDs.

Watching the Source of Energy

Two narrators came into the hall to lead the show. A young German man named as Jens and a Chinese girl Yan Yan started the introduction with dialogues. Yan Yan invited one of the volunteer visitors to blow on her microphone. We were surprised to see the sphere respond to the blow and start moving. It looked like that the movement of the sphere was pushed by the blow. Everybody cheered up and shouted. Jens encouraged us to shout loudly. Our noises made the sphere swing like a hanging pendulum. Yan Yan divided us into two groups. The group with louder noises made the sphere swing more to the opposite side. The louder we could shout together, the greater gradient the sphere would swing and turn. The colorful image patterns on the surface of the sphere kept changing, twinkling and sparkling. This had lightened up the entire hall. As we shouted to a greater level, the sphere revolved faster and the lights turned brighter than before. This cheered us up and let us feel the power of co-operations in the delivery of energy to our city.

Source of Energy performance in the German Pavilion

Germany Pavilion at Expo 2010

Germany Pavilion

The Germany Pavilion is one of the popular tourist attraction spots in Shanghai Expo 2010. Occupying a large area measuring around 6,000 square meters, the pavilion architecture is perceived to be in a combination of three multi-dimensional polygons. The relatively large tops and small feet of the polygons provide visitors with shelter protection from rains and sunshine. Looking from another angle, the polygonal structures appear to have assembled into a sculpture building with partial outdoor decks underneath. The silver outer layer of the building gives itself a robotic-feel character. Indeed, it  is  a membrane type building material. The interior of the building  is very large. It consists of a number of corridor-shape exhibition halls and a round-shape performance hall.

Open area exhibition

The Germany Pavilion is named as "balancity" which comes from the words "balance" and "city". The theme of the balancity aims to emphasize the importance of the balance between urbanity and nature, modernization and preservation, innovation and tradition, community and individual development, work and recreation, and also globalization and nationality. On admissions, visitors receive a souvenir  paper wind-wheel on which there is a pattern of the pavilion logo symbolizing the polygonal shape of the pavilion with German flag colors in black, red, and yellow.

Germany scenery as the background

There are in total 13 sections in the exhibition. The first two parts under an open area demonstrate the natural landscape and scenic suburban areas of Germany respectively. The third part of the exhibition lets visitors experience a dynamic tunnel while standing on a moving conveyor belt. In the fourth section, visitors stepped onto the underwater escalator. Getting to the top of the escalator, visitor will see the harbor view of Hamburg, in a harmony of renewal and preservation of buildings. The planning office in the fifth section displays the constructions of future cities. The exhibition of energy balance shows how solar roofs and a wood chip power plant generate more regenerated energy than houses consume in a year, and as a result surplus electricity is fed into the public power supply network to make good profits. The sixth section is the exhibition of intercultural gardens. These include school gardens and Germany allotment gardens, etc. Kids enjoy playing on a slide, while adults are fascinated with the interactive activities. The seven section is all about new inventions and news products made in Germany. The eighth part is the displays from innovative factories. In the ninth section, visitors view the parks of German cities by covering their heads with a bell-shape equipment in where 360 degree pictures are shown. The tenth part is a workshop of artworks. The eleventh section is a plot for art and cultural performance show. The twelfth part is the dialogue between China and Germany focusing on the improvement of city lives. The ultimate is a show of energy source.