We decided not to bury our heads in the sand and figure out why the country's participation in world exhibitions every year in a row turns into a demonstration of architectural, design and generally organizational helplessness.
EXPO is the engine of world progress
The Crystal Palace and the Eiffel Tower - these architectural objects can safely be called symbols of the World Exhibition and markers of industrial revolutions. Over a century and a half, WORLD EXPO has turned into a powerful accelerator of progress in architecture, design and technology. And to the most prestigious platform for demonstrating achievements, innovations and international competition, where the leaders of the states implement world politics. The mission of world exhibitions is to support active intercultural communication in order to exchange innovations.
The Crystal Palace, an exhibition hall with an area of more than 90 square meters. m, built according to the project of architect Joseph Paxton for the World Exhibition of 000 in London. Image source: GettyImages
The first exhibition, which took place in 1851 in London, was visited by 6 million people. The expositions of the Paris Exhibition of 1937 went down in history as an example of a "true synthesis of architecture and art." New York set the attendance record. Despite the fact that the world was on the brink of World War II, in April 1939, national pavilions of 22 countries were opened in New York, and delegations from 1939 countries took part in EXPO 52. The exhibition was held under the slogan "Building the world of tomorrow". Only four months later, the usual world was destroyed, and at the same time, the pavilions were open for two summer seasons - until October 1940. About 44 million people visited them.
Over a century and a half, WORLD EXPO has turned into a powerful accelerator of progress in architecture, design and technology
The organizers of EXPO 2020, which will be held under the motto Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, expect that Dubai will receive at least 6 million visitors in 25 months. Most of the participating countries have already published impressive pavilion projects, which were created by architects with world names, and many have already started work on construction sites.
The tower, which now bears the name of its creator, was built according to the project of engineer Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition of 1889 in Paris. Photo: Neurdein / RogerViollet
City of EXPO 2020
The pavilions are being built on the District 2020 site with an area of about 500 hectares. Since sustainability is one of the leading global trends, most buildings are designed as multifunctional. After the end of the show, the buildings will be adapted for business centers, offices and HoReCa facilities. District 2020 is located 15 minutes from the airport, seaport and 40 minutes from the center of Dubai. After the World Expo, the UAE capital will be left with an absolutely unique innovative business and residential district filled with architectural landmarks.
The "City of EXPO 2020" in Dubai will occupy an area of 500 hectares, and after the exhibition will become the heart of a new innovation district. Image source: EXPO 2020
The core of EXPO 2020 will be three joint pavilions dedicated to the main world trends: mobility (Mobility), opportunities (Opportunity) and sustainable development (Sustainability). The projects of key buildings were developed by architectural monsters: Foster + Partners, BIG and Grimshaw Architects. The National Pavilion of the UAE is being built according to the project of Santiago Calatrava.
The core of EXPO 2020 will be three joint pavilions dedicated to global trends: mobility, opportunities and sustainable development
Pavilion Mobility
Pavilion Opportunity
Not lagging behind the main buildings are the conceptual proposals put forward by the architects for the national pavilions: here is both a high modern design and a depth of immersion in the Connect theme. Create. Innovate. Neuro-architecture, digital design, climate change research, innovations in work with renewable energy, synergy of man and nature - the pavilions will become not just exhibition sites, but also living laboratories for the generation of ideas.
Pavilion Sustainability
Ukraine at EXPO: announcements and statements
Ukraine has committed to start the construction of the national pavilion in District 2020 already this summer. The pavilion should be built by October, as reported by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. Time limits are limited by the exhibition organizers: project planners aim to complete all major construction works in October 2019, leaving 12 months for testing and "fine-tuning". The head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Stepan Kubiv, emphasized the importance and priority of the event with the words: "The EXPO exhibition is an event on the scale of the Olympic Games."
The history of Ukraine's previous appearances at world exhibitions can be read as a negative anamnesis. For the first time, independent Ukraine took part in EXPO 2000 in Germany, then in 2005 in Japan. Judging by the individual tiny photos from the events, the quality of the design of the Ukrainian stands can only be compared with a school museum corner.
This is what the Ukrainian pavilion at EXPO 2005 in Japan looked like
Ukraine had been preparing for the 2010 World Expo in China for 4 years and had to present its own pavilion with an area of 500 square meters in Shanghai. m. The media assessment ranged from enthusiastic announcements ("Folklore groups will perform here, folk craftsmen will work, presenting Ukrainian crafts to the world community - pottery, weaving, painting") to a harsh statement: "The fast food outlet is the brightest and largest "exhibit" of the national pavilion".
That year, China spent $203 million on its national pavilion, and 9 million hryvnias were allocated from the Ukrainian budget for participation in the World Exhibition. With these funds, a box pavilion was rented, which was covered with a film with national ornaments. After a few days, it fell into disrepair, and the structure took on an untidy appearance. None of the representatives of the Ukrainian ruling nobility came to the opening ceremony. The exhibition was opened by the Ambassador of Ukraine to China.
Ukraine did not participate in Milan EXPO 2015 at all. And the modest national stand in the general pavilion at EXPO 2017, which was held in Astana, received a stormy discussion in social networks. "A country that has technologies for building airplanes, cars, a bunch of research institutes and universities was represented by a small stand, which demonstrated some kind of electric plow, which turned out to be a "solar energy collector," wrote FB users. But the impressions of Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Zubka were different: "We showed a wonderful stand of Ukraine at EXPO 2017. We brought our Kozak Systems ensemble." We drove today."
Pavilion of Ukraine at EXPO 2005 in Japan
Back in February 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to build a national pavilion with an area of 1035,03 square meters at the Dubai Exhibition. m on a plot with an area of 1652,46 square meters. m. But the first real signs of preparation for the event appeared only in the fall of 2018.
Through the ProZorro system, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade conducted the tender "71240000-2 Architectural, engineering and planning services (services for the development of the Concept, preparation of sketches and cost estimates for the presentation of the exposition of the National Pavilion of Ukraine at the World Exhibition EXPO 2020)". The price including VAT has traditionally been the only criterion for evaluating proposals. There were not many willing to participate: only four companies submitted their offers. In the end, the proposal of TD PROMFININVEST LLC won. In total, for 2 million 990 thousand hryvnias, which is a million less than the amount declared by the ministry, the company undertook to prepare Ukraine for participation in the World Exhibition.
Manifestations of Ukraine at the EXPO are a demonstration of architectural and design helplessness
"Promfininvest" certainly has experience in exhibition activities: for example, the company was the organizer of the XXIX International Agro-Industrial Exhibition "AGRO-2017", which took place on the territory of the capital VDNG in June 2017. The design was traditional - a large number of plastic trade tents and agricultural machinery. But there is no information about the company's experience in the field of architectural design in open sources.
At the Business for Smart Cities congress in Kyiv, PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA managed to ask the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv a question about the course of Ukraine's preparations for the World Expo. The answer sounded intriguing: "The uniqueness of EXPO 2020 will be that the design will not be cheap, it will be real, it will be [made] on a competitive basis, it will be [approved] by the decision of our committee, and it will be used [in the future], and not just disassembled for another exhibition, it will be used as much as possible for the needs of the Ukrainian state, the presentation of our state in this country."
From the minister's words, we can conclude that the building of the Ukrainian pavilion will be capital and will be used in the future. Nevertheless, the question remains as to who will design it, what the building will look like and how much it will cost.
Stand of Ukraine at EXPO 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan
On December 7, 2018, the Ministry of Economic Development published a video with three variants of the Ukrainian pavilion. However, their appearance is rather formulaic, and the authors of this masterpiece are not named.
We tried to arrange an interview with the officials of the ministry, but, referring to employment, the officials from the Ministry of Economic Development responded with a short written answer. It states that the presented visualization is only a preliminary conceptual solution. But the real designer, as well as the company that will be responsible for the interior design of the pavilion, has yet to be chosen. Excerpts from the letter are given verbatim and with preservation of the author's style:
"Currently, it is planned to hold open tenders in the ProZorro electronic public procurement system in the context of the design and construction of the Ukrainian pavilion at the World Exhibition "Expo-2020" in accordance with the requirements and schedule determined by the Organizing Committee of the exhibition. In this context, the Ministry of Economic Development invites all architects and architectural bureaus to participate in this tender.
In the architectural circle, the concept of the national pavilion of Ukraine for EXPO 2020 caused disappointment
The next stage of preparation for Ukraine's participation in the exhibition will be the announcement of open tenders for the internal arrangement of the pavilion (interior design, manufacture and installation of exhibits, etc.) and the operation of the exhibition (maintenance and ensuring the operation of the pavilion for 6 months, conducting business / cultural and presentation programs, staff maintenance, utilities, other operating expenses, etc.)".
On February 4, a video of the same nameless architectural concept was uploaded to the official Facebook page of the EXPO 2020 Dubai event. Therefore, architects who wish to participate in yet another tender will have to focus on the officially presented image, born from the restless imagination of nameless authors and approved by officials.
After seeing the visualizations, someone can, of course, exclaim that the progress is obvious! If compared with previous manifestations, probably. But, firstly, the announcements and the result often differ, and secondly, the concept presented in the architectural circle caused frank disappointment. Why? Architect Oleg Drozdov explained it as follows in a comment to PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA:
Visualization of the national pavilion of Ukraine for EXPO 2020, presented by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The author of the project is unknown
“Traditionally, architecture for EXPO is a manifesto of ambition and a designation of special qualities and goals in a competitive global context; this is a statement of technologies and means of achievement; it's a well thought out narrative / message / plot / scenario that is easy to read, engage or intrigue. And if we talk about the elementary qualities of architecture, it is a reaction to climatic conditions (in this case extreme), to the expected flow of guests, to the circulation possibilities of the plan. Judging from the architectural concept of the Ukrainian pavilion that was presented, it is not even visible that the organizers have asked themselves at least one of these questions."
Does this mean that in Ukraine there is no resource for designing a national pavilion that will not make the viewer shyly look away? After all, the enormous potential of Ukrainian architects can be judged at least by the results of participation in prestigious international design and architectural competitions, where both concepts and implemented projects were presented. We devoted several articles to the place of modern Ukrainian design and architecture in the general world context in the seventh volume of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA, the topic of which was "Ukraine for export". We can also mention the prototype of the national pavilion designed by architect Dmytro Aranchy for EXPO 2015 in Milan.
Dmytro Aranchy:
Participation in past EXPOs demonstrates Ukraine's architectural helplessness
Dmytro Aranchiy
More than 5 years ago, the architectural workshop "Dmytro Aranchii Architects" developed a prototype of the Ukrainian national pavilion for EXPO 2015 in Milan. The mobile prefabricated construction with a complex geometric shape was supposed to symbolize the transparency of Ukrainian processes, their adaptability (contextual sensitivity) to the world situation and the possibility of quick reconfiguration. And in particular, to show that Ukrainian architects keep up with the times, working in the field of parametric architecture. Dmytro Aranchiy told us why the project was never implemented and whether interest in designing for national image projects remained in the architectural environment.
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: Who took the initiative to develop the project of the exhibition pavilion for EXPO 2015 in Milan — you personally or did "Mineconomrozvytku" conduct the competition? Why did you decide to work on this project?
Dmytro Aranchy: Actually, we took the initiative to develop the pavilion project for EXPO 2015. This was connected with the results of Ukraine's representation at the 2010 World Exhibition in Shanghai, at which, in our opinion, Ukraine did not demonstrate a worthy attitude to architecture.
In 2013, when I started teaching computational design at KNUBA — probably for the first time in Ukrainian higher education institutions — I gave the students the task of completing the design of the pavilion for the Milan EXPO, using parametric applications. This aroused some interest among students, but the main thing is that in our workshop we took this idea more seriously and decided to continue working with it. We designed a pavilion that was dynamic and adaptive.
PM: As the story developed further, why did the project remain only a proposal?
YES.: No competition was held. As far as I read in the press, back in 2012, the then President Yanukovych allegedly appointed Petro Poroshenko, who held the position of Minister of Economic Development and Trade from March to December 2015, as the head of the EXPO 2012 preparation committee. But then came the revolution, war, lack of money , and nothing was built.
Prototype of the Ukrainian national pavilion for EXPO 2015 in Milan. Image source: Architectural workshop "Dmytro Aranchii Architects"
Our mission was not only to show how it can be modern from a technological and innovative point of view, but also to draw attention to the problem in general. That is, if the competition is not held, then it is possible to show how something can be prepared, and it is more interesting than before EXPO 2010. Then 20 million people saw the complete architectural helplessness of Ukraine, which rented a pavilion from China. It was covered with a PVC film with ornaments, apparently with Tripoli, not stylized in any way, and they tried to draw a parallel between Ukrainian and Chinese symbols... In the end, none of the visitors understood anything.
We worked not only on the architectural and conceptual parts of the Milan pavilion, but also with some contractors worked out from a mechanical point of view all these shells that contract and expand under the influence of the sun, and with others worked out the structure. That is, in principle, if someone had a serious intention and intention to build it, I think we would be able to do it.
PM: Is there any interest in participating in similar projects, in presenting the country at global events, in the architectural environment today? What conditions and circumstances can stimulate this interest?
YES.: There is interest, but mainly in commercial design... Even then, if I am not mistaken, interest appeared only in one company besides us, but I am one hundred percent sure that if we had not done this, our colleagues would not have started working either. over this
The ProZorro system does not stimulate the interest of architects in any way. Tenders are not really about architecture at all. How can you choose a project based on price? Someone wins and designs something, the one who has a thousand hryvnias cheaper. That is, architecture needs a competition. Either a purely Ukrainian competition, or let Zaha Hadid's or Richard Rogers' office, or some other global giant, make Ukraine a pavilion that will be undeniably cool, high-quality, effective and cool. If the competition is held in good quality, especially if a world star is invited, these are the conditions that can stimulate this process.
The openwork and light structure, which was developed by the Dmytro Aranchy Architects Architectural Workshop for EXPO 2015 in Milan, was meant to symbolize transparency and adaptability. Image source: Architectural workshop "Dmytro Aranchii Architects"
PM: What are your predictions regarding the representation of Ukraine at EXPO 2020? Should we expect that the national pavilion will be distinguished by some breakthrough design?
YES.: My predictions are disappointing and not too optimistic. From what I've seen, don't expect it to stand out with a breakthrough design.
PM: If you were to design a national pavilion today, what would you focus on, in what direction would you work?
YES.: We would work in the direction in which we usually move: in the direction of computational architecture. But our idea of a pavilion for EXPO 2015 is innovative to this day. I believe that if we ever return to it, it does not matter whether it is in 2020 or 2050. Because the idea is quite interesting from the point of view of technological solutions, and not only in Ukraine, but also in the world. This is a combination of architecture with transformation, with adaptation, tracking a person, it is not just turning on and off the light with the button of your smartphone, but already artificial intelligence.
That is, if we were to design today, we would make the same pavilion, only perhaps more efficient than before. We would adapt it to the site, to the budget, and try to make it so that there is a minimum probability of failure of the elements. Back in Montreal at EXPO 1967, Buckminster Fuller tried to make similar dynamic cells, and despite the fact that he was an engineer and architect of the first magnitude, they broke without turning on... Now the situation is different, different technologies, different materials, and we are already different , and it is much easier to do. To have a desire.
And about budgets...
"The estimated and preliminary budget for Ukraine's participation in the Expo-2020 world exhibition can be up to 12 million dollars. USA. Along with this, the final amount of expenses will be known only based on the results of open tenders and price offers of the tender-winning company," the same official letter received by the Ministry of Economic Development states. $12 million is a lot or a little to build a capital building with an area of 1000 square meters. m? If we compare it with the budget allocated for our pavilion in Shanghai in 2010, then it is a lot. And if you still try to compare with the budgets of other countries and take into account the prices of construction companies-contractors working in Dubai...
For example, Arabtec Construction became the leading contracting organization at EXPO 2020 Dubai, it recently won a tender for the construction of public facilities worth $85 million. The same company is leading the construction of the UAE national pavilion. The construction of the Calatrava pavilion, which we talked about above, began in the summer of 2017, and will end at the end of 2019. The construction budget is $96 million (not including the architect's fee).
General systemic errors are hidden behind the by no means innovative nature of Ukraine's self-presentation at world exhibitions
The construction of the US pavilion, designed by Curtis Fentress, the founder of Fentress Architects, will cost $60 million. This amount does not include the costs of interior design, the presentation of innovations and technological know-how, and cultural programs.
One of the country's largest pavilions at EXPO 2020 in Dubai will be the German pavilion. The budget allocated for the entire project is 50 million euros. Koelnmesse, an organizer of international exhibitions and fairs, is engaged in the preparation and management of the German pavilion on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany. Applications for the architectural and interior design competition of the German pavilion were accepted from all EU countries. The winner was announced in November 2018. It became the LAVA Laboratory of Visionary Architecture.
The dizzying financial efforts of other exhibitors can be discussed endlessly, because participation in EXPO 2020 has been confirmed by 160 countries, many of which are economically and politically much richer than the warring Ukraine. And the total capital investment budget for EXPO 2020 Dubai will be about $6,8 billion.
This is what the national pavilion of Germany will look like at EXPO 2020, which will be built according to the project of the LAVA Laboratory of Visionary Architecture. Image source: EXPO 2020
Will our pavilion and its contents be able to fully demonstrate the "cultural heritage and innovative spirit of the country"? Will the presentation of an electric bicycle capable of traveling 380 km without recharging and a 3D printer for ceramics overshadow the premiere of Virgin Hyperloop One in the American pavilion? Obviously not. And we won't even be able to surprise you with architecture.
General systemic errors are hidden behind the by no means innovative nature of Ukraine's self-presentation at world exhibitions: lack of communication between organizers, the public and mass media, irrationally composed and limited budgets, lack of competitiveness (not so much financial as conceptual) in the field of architectural and interior design. And this is far from an exhaustive list.
Perhaps, if in 2018 the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade decided to break the patterns and hold not auctions, but an open architectural competition for the best project of the national pavilion, then we would already be discussing and analyzing in detail not the chronicles of shame, but several interesting and innovative projects at once .
