In helping readers understand World Expo development history in a more systematic manner, and as a reference to our current organization and preparation for World Expo Shanghai 2010, we invite Mr. Zheng Shiling (academician, CAS) to write a series "World Expo Architecture Overview", which to be serialized since current issue.

World Expo Architecture, Monument in Memory

By Zheng Shiling

"Everything starts with the World Expo", the widely accepted slogan in expo world implies that World Expo changes the history of human being, figuring out the world development orientation through the philosophies, ideas and scientific and technological achievements exhibited. The first World Expo in 1851 is deemed a great success, partly due to the significant milestone it was amid in the development of human being. World Expo, the outcome of a hybrid of industrial revolution and advance of science and technology, takes an incredibly important role in social progress, political development and economic growth. The year of 1850 was a landmark of the development of modern world according to contemporary macroeconomics theory. Since 1850, the Great Britain was the leading power in modern world development, followed by other European countries and the United States of America, and world economy was doubled at an interval of around 35 years. Therefore, promoted by era, World Expo was an emblem of social development into the dawn of a new era.

World Expo Architecture, Leading World Architecture Innovation

World Expo buildings, the exhibits themselves, as well as products exhibited are major highlights in expos. It should be mentioned that several major events in World Expo history made significant contributions in promoting Expo building development:

World Expo Philadelphia USA (1876), with the theme of "Celebration of the Centennial of American Independence and the Declaration of July 4th 1776", allows countries to build their individual pavilions;

World Expo Paris France (1900), with the theme of "Evaluation of a Century", started to introduce functional zones as well as concentrated state pavilion zones;

World Expo St Louis USA (1904), with the theme of "Celebration of the Centennial of the Purchase of Louisiana on April 30th of 1803", shifted from previous encyclopedic exhibitions to thematic expressions, from industrial category to cultural category, and attached more importance on buildings’image and cultural quality than mass and techniques;

World Expo Chicago USA (1933), with the theme of "A Century Progress", started to establish definite theme for World Expo;

Since World Expo Paris France (1937), with the theme of "Arts and Technics in Modern Life", hosting countries were allowed to set up their local pavilions;

In World Expo Spokane USA (1974), with the theme of "Celebrating Tomorrow's Fresh Environment", environmental values and issues became a new concern of human being;

In the preparation process of World Expo Hanover Germany (2000), with the theme of "Humankind, Nature, Technology", the Hanover sustainable design philosophy was first put forward, of great significance to the development of "green building", "ecologic building"and "ecologic city".

World Expo Architecture, Symbol of Era and Culture

World Expo architecture will always be the monument in memory of history. World Expo buildings, particularly those state pavilions are works of prominent architects of these countries. Most of these pavilions are temporary buildings, which are dismantled after expo, and only a few of them will be rebuilt several years or decades later for their unique historical and cultural values. World Expo buildings represent the engineering progresses for different times, however, most of them only alive in nonmaterial recollection and news press, even pictures are hardly traceable.

World Expo buildings, the symbol of era and culture, initiate architecture development tendencies and building techniques of the 20th century. These buildings represent and demonstrate different elements of the world: experimental of innovative architecture and techniques; cultures, world views and values of different countries and regions; high artistic quality of buildings; also, emblem of countries and regions who exhibit themselves in the World Expo.

World Expo buildings have five major features:

Temporality: World Expo buildings, most of which are temporarily built and to be torn down or be tour exhibited after expo, with relatively transient design and construction period as well as existence, only a few of them will be permanently maintained or rebuilt later. For their temporality and special locations, not so much considerations should be taken for relations between World Expo buildings and surround environment and city itself. Most of those buildings kept will have to change their functions to some extent. People can hardly track down World Expo buildings in world architectural history records, for most of them are experimental buildings and only a few could be kept.

Space limitation: Due to space limitation, people will have to use buildings of relatively small mass to express unlimited and comprehensive information.

Specific building function and image: Some World Expo buildings are just setoffs to the exhibited products they accommodate. World Expo buildings originally designed and built by different countries and regions are symbols of them. As exhibits themselves, image of these buildings is a more important element than function.

Present buildings and techniques of future: World Expo is a stage for countries and regions to present their updated achievements in science and technology and civilization fields, including buildings, an effective expo media, to guide world architecture development trends and philosophies.

The values of some World Expo buildings were not acknowledged until many years later. Many of them were rebuilt decades after torn down for their specific values.

World Expo functions as catalysts too promote large scale urban construction and development in hosting city, who will always take much considerations of the relationship between World Expo project and the overall urban planning, of the possibility of sustainable urban development after expo, in order to avoid world expo area becoming an isolated parcel in the city.

The main building of the Shanghai South Railway Station, the largest station in the world with a light transmittance structure, illuminates like a giant flashing ball, displaying its splendor in the night with its transparent crystal-like structure. The 12 lamp posts in the South Square and North Square of the railway station radiate different colors such as red, green and blue incessantly, reflecting the beauty of dynamic changes; the slope between the main building and the square is also being separated by a multicolored wall equipped with lamps displaying different colors of light. Seen from a distance, the whole building is dazzling like a palace with glazed tiles on its roof due to the use of glass fa?ades. The Shanghai South Railway Station was formally put into use on July 1 as a newly created traffic transfer hub and a landmark building for the city.

Described as the south gateway of the city, the Shanghai South Railway Station is located in the southwest of Xuhui District, with Humin Road in the north, Shilong Road in the south, Liuzhou Road in the east and Guilin Road in the west; it covers an area of 60 hectare, sitting on the Shanghai-Hanzhou railway and Metro Line 3. The station is a joint project by the Ministry of Railway and Shanghai Municipal Government, with a total investment of five billion Yuan. It has six platforms for 13 railway lines, with a daily handling capacity of 72 trains for their arrivals and departures. Initially, the station will operate 41 pairs of trains, handling a third of the total railway transport volume now handled at the Shanghai Railway Station as trains heading for the south and the southwest all depart from the Shanghai South Railway Station. Shanghai South Railway Station will be of great importance in propelling the development of inter-city railway transport between Shanghai and neighboring cities and in further upgrading the transit network of Shanghai and fueling the economic and social development of the southwest area of the city as well as the whole city.

“Big Meal” of Auto Components Moved to Jiading Automobile Town

Written by Min Zi

 Photographed by Xu Jiechen

From June 8 to 10, 2006, Auto Components Shanghai 2006 held an exhibition in the Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Centre. As a significant event in China's auto parts industry, Auto Components Shanghai is moving to Jiading Automobile Town for the first time. This exhibition is sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The exhibition is jointly undertaken by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China (SAE-China), the Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. and the German IMAG-International Trade Fair and Exhibition Co. Ltd. Nearly 200 manufacturers from 10 countries and regions attend the event, including over 40% representation from foreign companies. Exhibition space will reach 12,000 m2.

Broad market prospect with a rare opportunity

China's auto industry has developed rapidly by an annual average of over 30% in recent years and has a broad market prospect. The auto parts industry has also developed alongside the auto manufacturing market. In 2005, the number of relatively large-scale domestic auto parts enterprises surpassed 5,000 and their production scale reached RMB440 billion in sales. Based on an industry forecast, sales of China's auto parts industry will amount to about RMB800 billion 2010. Against such a favorable background, the auto parts industry will have full scope for development.

Established in 1996, Auto Components Shanghai alternates with the world renowned Auto Shanghai every other year. These two auto exhibitions have been the trump cards of the Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.

Moving to Jiading with Unprecedented Scale

“This exhibition chooses Shanghai International Auto Town as its first venue, as it is characterized by a rich atmosphere of the auto industry. The newly established Automobile industry Exhibition Center--Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center (SAEC) gives full play to the inherent advantages of the auto parts industry while satisfying the requirements of the exhibition”, said Mr. Chen, President of Shanghai World Expo (Group) Co., Ltd, and the Vice Chairman of CCPIT Shanghai Branch.

This exhibition is the largest of all its sessions with active exhibitors and visitors. Eight exhibition groups such as China auto electronic and electric appliance exhibition group, Shanghai auto parts exhibition group, Zhejiang auto parts exhibition group, Japanese exhibition group, German exhibition group Taiwan exhibition group and over 200 Chinese and foreign auto parts manufacturers converge in the exhibition

Foreign Businessmen Converge to Showcase Colorful Exhibits

As the largest professional platform for the procurement of and trade in auto parts in Shanghai and even in East China, this international auto parts exhibition is all-inconclusive, covering engine systems, electronic and electric appliance systems, gear boxes, exhaust pipes, bridges, steering wheels, braking systems, suspension systems, auto bodies and accessories, auto parts, interior decorations, air-conditioning systems and devices for auto repair, maintenance, malfunction detection and diagnosis.

A major characteristic of this auto parts exhibition is the large increase in the number of foreign exhibitors. Thanks to the cooperation of German IMAG-International Trade Fair and Exhibition Co. Ltd, many well-known European companies have been attracted, and Malaysian and Iranian auto parts companies take part for the first time. Lead names in the world tyre industry all come to the event, and famous companies such as Michelin, Goodyear and Yokohama Tire exhibit their latest technology and products.  

The station consists of three parts: the platforms for arrivals and departures of trains, the main building and the squares. With a size that is five times as big as the Shanghai Stadium, the main building has a diameter of 278 meters, and a height of 42 meters. The disc-shaped roof consumes eight thousand tons of steel and 50,000 sq m of sun sheets (over 140,000 sheets in total), supported by two steel columns comprising 18 pairs of herringbone steel structures and with a rib-structure dome that reflects dynamic beauty. It is not only the largest station in the world with a light transmittance structure, but also the first disc-shaped railway station globally. In the process of construction, the Shanghai South Railway Station has broken many national and world building records.

Convenient facilities for passengers

No matter you are passengers to take the train, passengers transferring stations or just passerby, you can always feel the people-friendly services here in the Shanghai South Railway Station. The main building consists of waiting-rooms in the upper layer, an overhead round platform, and some passenger transportation facilities. The 12 waiting-rooms are semi-open, being separated from each other by green belts, which makes the whole waiting-room beautiful and transparent. Each waiting-room can accommodate 300 passengers; plus the waiting-room for passengers with soft seat tickets and the waiting-room for inter-city trains, the whole waiting-room section can accommodate a total of 6,000 passengers. What is noteworthy is that the Shanghai South Railway Station has allocated areas in the waiting room for the aged and kids, service men, and special rooms for infants and their mothers in order to meet the needs of passengers.

The ticket hall is in the North Square, with 26 ticket counters. In addition, there are two emergency ticket offices, each with 13 ticket counters, in the transit lounge of the main building. A small screen is installed at each ticket counters, displaying contents which are the same as those in the computer screens of booking clerks. In so doing, passengers can immediately know whether the ticket he is going to buy is sold out or still available. The table of the booking clerk is at a 45-degree angle to the ticket selling window, making it easy for the booking clerk to have face-to-face communication with passengers, instead of showing only a profile to the passenger. In addition, the ticket-selling window is less than 1.1 meters in height, shortening the distance between passengers and ticket clerks, and the height of ticket-selling windows for the aged, children, sick, disabled and pregnant, is only 0.8 meter, reflecting the people-oriented service standards of the station. The two emergency ticket halls mainly sell tickets for that very day for the convenience of quick departures of passengers. Useful and beautiful supporting shelves are installed below the ticket-selling windows to help passengers place their luggage when buying the tickets.

There are two metro lines, 20 bus lines, and five taxi stops surrounding the Shanghai South Railway Station, and the south station of the Shanghai Long-distance Passenger Transportation Station is also close to the South Railway Station. Through this most complicated transfer hub, passengers find their way out quickly to the railway, long-distance buses, metro lines, buses, and taxies. The direction boards are of great importance in the transfer, and there are about 240 direction boards in the Shanghai South Railway Station, with direction guidance boards and comprehensive guidance map being installed within 20 meters from each other. The designers of the Shanghai South Railway Station has set up different functional categories and colors, with the eye-catching yellow as the first-category color to give guidance for passengers to transfer to the railway stop or to get out quickly, green as second-class color to guide passengers to metro lines, buses, long-distance buses or their own vehicles, and blue as a third-category color to guide passengers to leisure and shopping places, toilets or to go to other ancillary services.

Shanghai's "2nd Station" to serve World Expo

As China's largest economic center and a large metropolis with international influence, Shanghai needs more railway stations apart from the Shanghai Railway Stations and the Shanghai West Railway Station. The Ministry of Railway and the Shanghai Municipal Government have attached great importance to the construction of a new station, and has made the decision to build up the Shanghai South Railway Station (named "Shanghai No.2 Railway Station") when the city began to construct Metro Line 3, requiring that the Shanghai South Railway Station should be built as a "landmark building for Shanghai in the 21st century". After the formal operation of the Shanghai South Railway Station, the short-term target is to handle 12.7 million passengers per year, and 15 million passengers per year as a long-term target. In 2010 when the World Expo is held in Shanghai, many passengers will arrive in Shanghai by train, and the Shanghai South Railway Station will also play a more important role.