SHANGHAI (CN)
Client: Sociedad Estatal para Exposiciones Internacionales (SEEI)
Date: 2008
Status: Competition
Program: Spanish Pavilion for the International Exhibition in Shanghai, China
SPAIN: OPEN CITY
The project SPAIN: OPEN CITY reinforces the idea of a country which is diverse and always open, showing all angles of a state that was formed by the melting and mixing of different cultures, races, and landscapes. Spain is second in the world in terms of the number of foreign visitors it receives, and according to forecasts by the World Tourism Organization, it will receive 75 million foreign visitors in 2020, making it enormously important as a global public space.
The city is an ecosystem formed by the contact, exchange, and communication between individuals, groups and institutions. Public space is the link: the scene where interaction takes place, and the flagship for democracy and freedom. The compact Mediterranean city is one of the most sustainable urban models on the planet. Spain is one of the places in the world with the best examples of historic and pioneering urban practices.
SPAIN: OPEN CITY is a large and diverse open public space. The proposed pavilion is a great open city plaza, a flexible, ever-changing, multipurpose space. A place where any event can take place, mimetizing its exterior and interior image to the rhythm of the various proposed uses and projecting a kaleidoscopic image of a lively country.
Image credits: Kid running through strings by Louis Kim on Flickr.
