I was shocked to read in the New York Times this morning that when the World Expo in Shanghai, China ends in October most, if not all, of the exhibits, will be demolished and the site will be cleared for office and retail space. What a pity and shame on the cultural carrion crawlers who would promote this kind of waste.
Well over 100 billion dollars is being spent - the aggregate number will probably be closer to 200b. - and it will all be demolished... wasted. I suppose that this modern trash heap will at least be better to live in than the e-waste dumps that we've bestowed on inland China. I suppose too that this dump could become its own tourist attraction - tons of lucite tubes and piles of poly and plaster - surely a sight not to be missed on your next trip to China.
World expo's were once visions of a future so distant it seemed unattainable. But in 1964 the world's fair looked towards the next millennium and the people proclaimed; "that is the future". The 'future' of 1965 is now temporally and physically a thing of the past - it's rotting shell offers little more than fascination and good reason to ponder the value of "temporary construction".
As Y2K's blip fades I have to wonder - are we so exhausted in the present and of the past that we've simply forgotten how to dream about the future? The objectives for having a future at all seem pretty clear and I don't think that temporary buildings were included in any of the climate treaties that our world leaders were so eager to burn jet fuel to be at.
There is one significant pavilion though. Years from now we can proudly look back at the USA Pavilion from the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China and realize that at least the collective sentiment of the USA was in the right place. No temporary building there. Not for the U, S, of A.
While all the other pavilions from that Expo were demolished, the USA Pavilion will remain. Why? Because it was designed to be an oil tank. A vision of the future - firmly implanted in the past.
In Spring 2009 I co-taught the Urban Play and Recreation studio. THe course was documented in the form of a book, embedded below, and on the Designing W/ website along with other courses that focused their activities on work with external partners.
I arrived in Atlanta last night and have been getting things ready for the Media Showcase and getting my points together for all of the Design Community Sessions...
Media Showcase Interactivity Demo Panel #1
on Tuesday @ 4:30
Media Showcase Interactivity Demo Panel #2
on Wednesday @ 2:30
Pachube Design Activity – a Design Activity with Many Hands with Usman Haque
