By Yu Li

Although Germany and France share the same building in the Aichi World Expo, the pavilions of the two countries are quite distinct. The theme of the German Pavilion is "Bionis", which calls for the coexistence of nature and technology. The science of Bionics is a theory of the technical application of natural principles. By choosing the theme of Bionis, the Germany Pavilion emphasizes that the exhibits should derive from inspirations of the nature. Based on a communication-oriented concept, the pavilion is an experience type with minimal explanations, enabling visitors to get fresh and firsthand knowledge.
The main exhibited item at the pavilion is an orbital system, called "Ride". Running on the multi-layered 300-meter-long orbit is the "Experience Drop," a transparent water drop-shaped cabin, which takes the visitors on a ride through the fascinating world of nature that is typical of the German culture. Composed of high-tech equipment weighing 150 tons, the 300-meter track, in the German Pavilion presents multi-layered channels, through which the water drop-shaped small vehicles travel, hence the journey is named "experience drop." The transparent vehicles will take the visitors to experience a multimedia spectacle depicting the future bionic world, enabling them to take the miracle journey, meander through the German landscape and to gain an understanding of the latest achievements in coexisting with the nature in the study of bio-engineering.
The water drop vehicles take up to six people and starts every 45 seconds, shuttling in the multilayered 300-meter track either in a leisured pace in share falls, making the ride a roller coasting experience.

The journey in the water drop-shaped cabins begins deep underground, and passes through water, air, dark mountain tunnels and several beautiful German landscapes, or becomes immersed in the sea, soars into the air, or amble in the ancient castles of Germany with the aid of multimedia presentations, projections, animations and exhibits.
The Orbit experience in the flying vehicles is rich in contents, drawing upon bionic inspirations such as the wing fluttering by wild geese, which teaches people how to reduce frictions of the wind in order to save energy, and research on this front could be helpful for the manufacturing of miniature robots to travel in complicated places with a mission to carry out difficult jobs. The whole journey, taking less than 10 minutes, is a perfect combination of speed and landscape, allowing visitors to experience the convenience and glamour brought about by the fusion of high-tech with the nature. Visitors can also enjoy the advanced machinery manufacturing skills of the German and the agile performance by the robots.
After the journey of the experience drop, visitors can enjoy in turn the latest bionic technology in the exhibition room upstairs. The German Pavilion exhibits how the development of technology can learn from some natural principles, for instance, the invention of light coating materials of automobiles draws from the animal marrows, and the structure of a shark's skin reduces friction in water, which is being used to make swimming suits and coating materials of submarines, and the self-cleaning properties of lotus leaves are a model for dirt-repellent surfaces. Technology stems from the study of the nature with an aim to serve the nature.
The Eden project, which makes use of waste clay pit to exhibit the high efficiency of beehive structures in the utilization of energy, in particular natural energy. Beehive structures are now widely used in sectors like building, communication, and automatic transmission equipment.
Another interesting exhibited item is the pine cone garment, which draws inspiration from the quick reaction of opening up or closing by pine cones to the changes of moisture, and has resulted in the development of smart fiber clothing. The smart clothing will let in air to cool the wearer when it's hot and shut out air when it is cold.
Aside from these exhibits, there are sailing materials designed in imitation of the swimming secrets of the sharks, the wings of aerostats imitating the flying wild goose, and the heat inductor designed following the study of how bats catch preys using supersonics. All these inventions reflect that principles of nature are the source for the advancement of the technology.
Driven by a communication-oriented philosophy, the German Pavilion endeavors to help visitors gain first-hand and fresh knowledge.


Photos:
1. Ancient German castles
2. Vivid man-made caves
3. Enjoying landscapes in the Experience Drop
4. Flying eagles and airplanes
5. The hunting secrets of bats
6. Shark skins and the secrets of swimming.