Cone House Inc of Vancouver was invited by design studio Lord Beijing in China to participate as a bid member of an international design team. The challenge was to develop an Expo 2010 pavilion proposal for a consortium of Chinese oil companies. The theme of Expo 2010 in Shanghai was “Better City, Better Life.” The purpose of the pavilion was to educate visitors about China Oil’s current role and future commitment to improved urban quality of life. The stated role of ConeHouse’ principal Eric Ansley was to propose a visual theme and direct Beijing artists to build the bid document.
Pavilion shell concept built on a re-usable modified spaceframe, covered with lighted recyclable graphics that changed from day to night.
From a pre-qualified bidders’ list of ten international firms, the proposal was short-listed as one of three finalists. Key ideas resonated with the the final pavilion, most visibly a recommendation to use a recyclable, petroleum-based product for an exterior that changed colour to provide a dramatic night presence. A key concept that oil is a treasure hidden for millions of years was incorporated to promote recycling and sustainability. The proposed story-telling device rested on an invented character, The Oil Dragon.
The Oil Dragon had guarded its treasure for millions of years. It was awakened when the Chinese were the first to drill for oil using bamboo poles. Today, the dragon is upset that we have been simply burning such a valuable treasure, a rich chemical with many possibilities to support and enrich human life. And, we were using it all up.
The story proposal continued to suggest ways that oil could be used more effectively for the longer term, for example, through recyclable materials. The dragon itself provided a way to invoke emotion through video and sound. The pavilion as seen from above implied a styled dragon with visitors entering through its mouth. A key feature was a theatre in its heart. Another theatre allowed the dragon to fly visitors into the leg of an offshore oil well for more information about the current work of employees and values of the sponsoring companies.
The three big Chinese Oil firms, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) issued an invitation to ten pre-qualified design firms, with only one based in China. Other Canadian consultants on the team included Jan Sircus of Studio Sircus, who directed design of the Canada Pavilion at Aichi, Japan and Phil Aldrich, principal of leading Canadian interpretive design firm Aldrich Pears Associates. Lord Cultural Resources of Toronto also contributed on many levels including storyline research and draft text.
The following describes ConeHouse’ contribution, one of several that led to Lord Beijing’s commission as a successful proponent.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE OUR FUTURE
Bureau of International Expositions Convention: Part 1, Article 1.1: An exhibition is a display which, whatever its title, has as its principal purpose the education of the public: it may exhibit the means at man’s disposal for meeting the needs of civilisation, or demonstrate the progress achieved in one or more branches of human endeavour, or show prospects for the future.
The power of ideas told at World Expos cannot be taken lightly because they do shape our future. The GM pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 did that. In order to educate the public about how it would help to realize utopia, GM proposed an urban planning approach. This has led to the network of freeways in every industrialized city today, connecting business cores to suburban development and separate retail zones. This created economic growth in the medium term, but many now see how this idea was flawed. While it spawned huge demand for cars and oil, it created social problems when the middle class abandoned urban cores. It cost quality time between families and friends spent on hours in isolation during commute. It has led to a waste of valuable oil, simply burned. It almost eliminated social interaction in friendly neighbourhoods that were supported by walking from home to the corner grocery and coffee shops. This planning model cost potential city green space for children to play, lost to interchanges. As freeways became plugged, we discovered that freeways don’t solve transportation problems, but often made them worse, with compartmentalized development demanding even more freeways. We now have a planet depending on a non-renewable source of energy with a weak global economy and no vision for sustainability from political leadership. China is one of the few countries with the decision-making power and economic engine to make the paradigm shift that is needed.
Personal transport ownership as a symbol of economic privilege and social armor to support economic growth through consumption of metal and oil has reached its limits and time is running out. New motivational memes to support self-esteem and quality of life are needed. Over 70 million people attended the Shanghai 2010 Exposition. It was a key opportunity to shift the way the Chinese people, and the world, thought about the future use of oil.
While western economies plan on a very short-term scale, China has a political structure that supports long-range planning. The pavilion concept as proposed would have been a major opportunity for China to present itself, not as a copy machine, but as a strategy leader to shape our future cities. Through this pavilion, China Oil had a special opportunity to inject a visionary message, leading the rest of the planet to economic optimism with improved quality of life.
