Expo 2000

Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is famous for hosting CeBIT. The fair was not a financial success.

The fair's masterplan was designed in a joint venture with Studio d'Arnaboldi / Cavadini, Locarno and AS&P (Albert Speer und Partner GmbH).

Contents

History

Background

On June 14, 1990 the international world's fair organization B.I.E. awarded Expo 2000 to Hanover, beating out Toronto by a 21 to 20 vote. In 1992 the architects Studio Arnaboldi/Cavadini of Locarno won an international design competition for the masterplan of the exhibition grounds. On June 12 of that same year a survey conducted by the city council was made public showing only 51.5% of area residents supported hosting the expo.

Construction

On May 5, 1994 a new company was created by the government in Bonn, Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung und Durchführung der Weltausstellung EXPO 2000 in Hannover (EXPO 2000 Hanover GmbH). Headed by chairman Helmut Werner, the company was responsible for the construction and management of the fair.

In 1995 the supervisory board agreed on the concept for the thematics of the fair. Construction finally began on April 22, 1996.

Unlike previous expos, which focused on present advances in science and technology, EXPO 2000 focused more on developing and presenting solutions for the future.

The Fair

The fair opened to the public on Thursday, June 1, 2000 and ran five months, ending on Tuesday, October 31.

The Expo site was situated on the original 1,000,000 square meters of the Hanover fairground; an additional 600,000 m² was also made available as a newly opened section to the grounds. As a visitor walked in and tickets were taken, looking above to the approximately four-story-high ceiling, a visitor would have noticed the huge circular pods that held large TVs showing animated people greeting the visitors and providing tourist information in different languages. Some ten large McDonald's restaurants were also built, along with restaurants representing several of the exhibitor countries. Small retail locations were also set up to supply Expo merchandise. The United States reversed its decision to take part at a relatively late stage, and the area set aside for the American pavilion was left undeveloped.

40,000,000 visitors were expected at Expo 2000, but only 25,210,000 people came to see the event. This led to a financial deficit of about $600,000,000. With pre-ordered tickets priced at 69 DM, the fair seemed expensive compared to other days out. Commentator Georg Giersberg wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that entrance fees for Germany's 53 main theme parks cost on average less than half the price of the Expo (about 30 DM). Other financial shortfalls came from a lack of corporate sponsorship, since it cost US$4.8 million to be an official product supplier or US$14.5 million to become a world partner.

Part of the failure of the Expo was a lack of clear perception of what to expect at Expo 2000, not helped by a "cerebral" advertising campaign that had failed to explain what the Expo was for. In a 2000 Time article a Berlin-based marketing firm, Scholz & Friends, stated that "the organizers have failed to convey to the public a clear image of what Expo 2000 is going to be: an entertainment park, a blown-up museum, or a nature reserve." In the same article Ralf Strobach, secretary of Hanover's Citizens' Initiative for Environment Protection, said that "For a long time, companies were unsure if they would be putting money in an eco-show or a showcase for their latest inventions." Only after the fair was open and clearly not meeting expectations was a new advertising campaign created, aimed at the domestic market with British actor Peter Ustinov and German television star Verona Feldbusch and stressing the fun side of the Expo, under the slogan "Das gibt's nur einmal, es kommt nie wieder" ("This only happens once, it's never coming back").

The German band Kraftwerk created a vocoded speech signature theme, "Expo 2000", which was also developed into a single of the same name. Later a remix single "Expo Remix" was released. The band was also paid US$190,000 for a five-second jingle, leading Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to state that he "wouldn't have spent so much money".

Pavilions

Themed pavilions

National pavilions

In total, 155 nations took part. Some are outlined below:

Other pavilions

Expo 2000 Projects

Legacy

Some of the buildings on the EXPO site were sold after EXPO 2000 ended, but most of the exhibition area is still used for major fairs in Germany, as it has been since 1949. The southeastern area around Expo Plaza has been turned into Hanover's new centre of information technology, design, media and arts.

Most of the national pavilion buildings were demolished following the fair. Some buildings (far more than in any other world expositions) were 'saved', including the Netherlands Pavilion. The structure has now fallen into disrepair.

See also

External links

  1. ^ "MONACO INTER EXP". http://www.monaco-inter-expo.mc/expoPasse.php?idExpo=2&ecran=pavillon. Retrieved 16 November 2011. 
  2. ^ Hatje Cantz. Architektur Architecture EXPO 2000 Hannover. pp. 288. ISBN 377570924X.