Expo 2008

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This article or section contains information about a scheduled or expected World Exposition It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

Expo 2008 is an international exposition planned to be held from 14 June to 14 September 2008 coordinated by the Bureau of International Expositions, the organization that is responsible for sanctioning World's Fairs. The 2008 expo will be held in Zaragoza, Spain, with the topic of "Water and sustainable development". The event is being placed in a meander of the river Ebro.

Zaragoza, host city for the International Exposition, is the administrative and financial capital of the autonomous community of Aragon and the fifth largest Spanish city in inhabitants (660,000), behind Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. Zaragoza was elected the host city of Expo 2008 on December 16, 2004 by the BIE, beating Thessaloniki (Greece) and Trieste (Italy).

The exhibition’s most emblematic buildings will be the Water Tower, a 80-metre-high transparent building designed by Enrique de Teresa to evoke a drop of water, Zaha Hadid's Bridge Pavilion and the river aquarium. The exposition site will also host several espectacles, including a daily parade by Cirque du Soleil called The Awakening of the Serpent.

Aside from the countries, non-government organizations and private companies will be taking part in Expo 2008, always with the idea of water and sustainable development. The Expo 2008 host committee has estimated that this event could generate 135 million euros in receipts for admission to the exhibition centre.

Contents 1 Spaces and Exhibitions 1.1 Thematic Pavilions 1.1.1 Bridge Pavilion 1.1.2 Water Tower 1.1.3 Aquarium 1.2 Thematic Squares 1.2.1 Thirst 1.2.2 Cities of water 1.2.3 Extreme water 1.2.4 Oikos, water and energy 1.2.5 Shared water 1.2.6 Aquatic inspirations 1.3 Participants Pavilion 1.3.1 Country pavilions 1.3.2 Citizen's initiative pavilion 2 Shows 2.1 Iceberg 2.2 El hombre vertiente 2.3 The awakening of the serpent 2.4 Bob Dylan & additional American Artists 3 Mascot 4 After the Expo 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Spaces and Exhibitions

[edit] Thematic Pavilions

[edit] Bridge Pavilion

The Bridge Pavilion^[1] will be one of the most emblematic buildings of Expo 2008. It was designed by Zaha Hadid. It is built in two levels with the shape of a gladiola opening and closing. It joins the neighbourhood of La Almozara and the Expo site with a central island in the river Ebro.

The Bridge Pavilion will host the exposition Water - a unique resource. This exposition will try to present water as a universal human right, to inform visitors how water is a unique resource and to explain water management procedures and encourage citizen participation.

[edit] Water Tower

The Water Tower^[2] will be another emblematic building of Expo 2008 and its vertical icon. It was designed by Enrique de Teresa. It is 76 metres high with 10,400 accessible square metres. At the upper floor, there is a 720 square metres panoramic bar with fantastic views over Zaragoza. Inside the tower there is a 23-metre-high sculpture called Splash, which represents a Splash of water, "the arrival of life on our planet".The Splash sculpture based on dynamic simulation systems was designed by Pere Gifre from IKONIC ARTS.

The Water Tower will host the exposition Water for life where "audiovisual media and lighting pay a key role in the way the contents are communicated".

[edit] Aquarium

This thematic pavilion^[3] will be the biggest freshwater aquarium in Europe with 300 species of fauna from different rivers around the world in 60 tanks or terrariums. Rivers represented are:

• The Nile: There will be species of the great African lakes. It will also have crocodiles and an exhibition on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
• The Mekong: In this river visitors will find species of the Himalayas, gardens from the river's lower course, the Pacific Ocean and coral reefs.
• The Amazon river: It is divided into three different areas. The first of them is the Amazon jungle with its coconut trees and mangroves. The second area is about the Amazon forest while the third area is the mangrove swamp with an exhibition on the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Murray-Darling river: This exhibition begins in the flooded regions and goes through desert areas. It finishes with a video exhibition about birds.
• The Ebro: It is also represented in two areas. The first area is a mountain cave and the second is the course of the river. There will also be an exhibition on the Mediterranean sea.
• The "World River": It will represent the past, when "all the continents were united as a single island surrounded by ocean".

[edit] Thematic Squares

[edit] Thirst

With its several mirrors this thematic square will be an optical illusion of the visitors^[4]. The word thirst represents the need for water, without negative meanings. The square combines audiovisual projections and combinations of light and sound. It's 36.7 metres in diameter with 1,000 square metres (820 of them are the exposition area).

[edit] Cities of water

This square has no walls so its contents are visible from outside^[5]. Water is an "urban resource" and a "natural element in the process of improving quality of life in cities".

[edit] Extreme water

It symbolises the moment when a wave breaks on the beach^[6]. This square is divided into two parts. The first part is the sensorial area with 150 mobile seats where some audiovisuals are projected. The second part is the ideas area with interactive platforms, images and texts about water and its risks.

[edit] Oikos, water and energy

This exposition is about getting energy from water^[7].

[edit] Shared water

On this thematic square^[8] visitors will know that political divisions affect the management of water and the importance of this common resource.

[edit] Aquatic inspirations

This square^[9] will host the show El hombre vertiente, created by the Argentinean Pichón Baldinu, six times per day.

[edit] Participants Pavilion

[edit] Country pavilions

More than one hundred countries, plus dozens of companies and NGOs are expected to participate in Expo 2008. The confirmed list has these 104 countries ^[10], arranged in alphabetical order:

Participants
Algeria	Andorra	Angola	Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina	Austria	The Bahamas	Barbados
Belgium	Belize	Bolivia	Brazil
Bulgaria	Cameroon	Cape Verde	China
Guyana	Colombia	Costa Rica	Croatia
Cuba	Cyprus	Denmark	East Timor
Dominica	Dominican Republic	Ecuador	Equatorial Guinea
Egypt	El Salvador	Ethiopia	Republic of Macedonia
France	Germany	Greece	Grenada
Guatemala	Haiti	Honduras	Hungary
India	Indonesia	Italy	Jamaica
Japan	Jordan	Kazakhstan	Kenya
South Korea	Kuwait	Libya	Lithuania
Malaysia	Mali	Malta	Mauritania
Mexico	Monaco	Mongolia	Morocco
Mozambique	Namibia	Nepal	Netherlands
Nicaragua	Niger	Nigeria	Oman
Pakistan	Panama	Paraguay	Peru
Philippines	Poland	Portugal	Qatar
Romania	Russia	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Lucia	Saudi Arabia	Senegal	Slovakia
Solomon Islands	South Africa	Spain	Sudan
Suriname	Sweden	Switzerland	Tanzania
Thailand	Trinidad and Tobago	Tunisia	Turkey
Uganda	United Arab Emirates	Uruguay	Vanuatu
Vatican City	Venezuela	Vietnam	Yemen

The 17 autonomous communities of Spain and two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla will also participate, as well as the United Nations and the European Union.

The pavilions for official participants will be divided into 8 large buildings and into five differentiated eco-geographical areas within the Expo 2008 Exposition site, which will help to guide and separate the different participating countries. Those areas are:

• Islands and Coasts
• Oasis
• Ice and snow
• Temperate Forests
• Tropical Rainforests
• Mountains and High Plains
• Grasslands, Steppes and Savannahs
• Rivers and Flat plains

The joint pavilions corresponding to the eco-geographic areas of Grasslands, Steppes and Savannahs, Tropical Rainforests and Islands and Coasts, are being built by the organisers to house the pavilions of countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), respectively. The total surface area of the participating countries pavilions is 61,667 m².

Spain and the region of Aragon will have their own separate pavilions as hosts. The Spain Pavilion has been designed by Patxi Mangado, and the Aragon Pavilion, which resembles local basketweaving, by Daniel Olano.

[edit] Citizen's initiative pavilion

This pavilion has shape of beacon^[11], "a symbol of hope for the future of water in our world". It will express the vitality of ordinary people and non-governmental organisations. Beacon will be situated by the Bridge Pavilion entrance.

[edit] Shows

Expo 2008 will have a 93-day-long shows programme with more than 3,400 acts from more than 350 companies and artists.

On the expo site, there will be three shows called Major events. They are:

[edit] Iceberg

This show will be the artistic part of the Opening Ceremony and it will be repeated each night. The Spanish director Calixto Bieito and the scenographer Alfons Flores are responsible for the set design while the music is by José Luis Romeo. The show will have a huge iceberg with a minute human figure designed by the catalan company FOCUS.

[edit] El hombre vertiente

This show is created by the Argentinean Pichón Baldinu. It will be repeated six times throughout the day on the thematic square Water inspirations. The public will experience extreme emotions.

[edit] The awakening of the serpent

The parade will be one of the great moments of the day. "The Awakening of the Serpent" will make its way every day. Its creative director is Jean François Brouchard while its artistic director is Julien Gabriel. The parade will also have water as its main theme. Cirque du Soleil will participate with acrobats, actors, gymnasts, singers and musicians.

[edit] Bob Dylan & additional American Artists

Expo 2008 will open with a concert by Bob Dylan - the Offical Artist of Expo 2008.

Additional American artists scheduled to perform on the evening entertainment stage include Patti Smith, Robert Cray, Keb Mo, Ruben Blades, Diana Krall, The Stray Cats and Los Lobos. A performance by Gloria Estefan will close Expo 2008.

[edit] Mascot

The Expo 2008 mascot is Fluvi^[12], a little male drop of water.

With his best friend Ica, the smallest drop of water, and Nico and Laurita, he will fight against the pollution made by Sec and Raspa, the evil Negas.

[edit] After the Expo

The exposition site and its facilities have been planned thinking of their usage after the Expo finishes in September 2008 as a new extension of the city. Some of the buildings will be rented or transferred to several institutions. This way, the Aragon Pavilion will be converted into the head office of a regional ministry, while the landmark buildings of the Expo, the Water Tower and the Bridge Pavilion, are expected to be purchased by local financial institutions.

The international pavilions will be remodelled and converted into offices so that the site becomes the main business park in Zaragoza. This space will also have establishments for leisure and restaurants.

A great part of the site may be used for shopping establishments and for the construction of a science park for businesses.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Expo 2008
• ZH2NO, Unofficial Expo 2008
• Bureau of International Expositions
• ExpoMuseum's Expo 2008 Page
• French Pavilion
• German Pavilion
• Japanese Pavilion
• Italian Pavilion
• Portuguese Pavilion
• Galicia Pavilion
• Expo Zaragoza 2008 from Aragon Guide .com
• Expo Zaragoza News, Emblematic buildings and Maps
• Basic and Practice Information about Expo 2008
• Beacon official website
• The 21 metre tall Splash sculpture designed by Pere Gifre.

Preceded by Expo 2005

World Expositions 2008

Succeeded by Expo 2010