Expo2010 Sweden English http://swedenexpo.cn/ Description of RSS Feed expo2010 en Expo2010 Sweden English http://swedenexpo.cn/EXT:tt_news/ext_icon.gif http://swedenexpo.cn/ Description of RSS Feed expo2010 TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:11:00 +0100 Racing to the finish line http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/racing-to-the-finish-line/ These past few weeks have seen great progress in the pavilion construction.

We're in the final 50 days or so before the pavilion opens to the public, and construction continues at a rapid pace. Our on-site manager Sven Calander has been taking photos which he shares with us here.

Above, the pavilion as it looked recently. The scaffolding is now more transparent, and through it you can see the exterior walls being panelled with SSAB steel. The pattern represents an aerial street map of Stockholm.

Below, you can see a closeup of the perforated steel panelling, and the lighting being tested inbetween.

Each panel gets lifted up and slotted into place, like so:

Inside, work is well underway on the interior decoration. Below, you can see the VIP floor being installed. Here, partners and sponsors of the pavilion (who have paid for half of it) will be able to entertain corporate clients and guests, and hold seminars and meetings during Expo.

The wooden Glulam construction has received a coat of paint and some glass railings. These stairs will lead to the rooftop bar.

And finally, here are some panoramic shots that Sven took of the interior of the wooden construction.

 

We hope to see you soon:-)

]]> Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:11:00 +0100 Follow the Dalecarlian Horse from Sweden to Shanghai http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/follow-the-dalecarlian-horse-from-sweden-to-shanghai/ The 3-meter tall traditional wooden horse is making its way around the world to Shanghai - follow... One icon of the Swedish Pavilion will be a 3-meter tall, all-weather, traditional wooden Dalecarlian Horse statue — or "Dalahäst" as the Swedes call it — stationed outside the entrance, welcoming visitors to the Swedish exhibition. The brightly-colored horse was recently completed by wood sculptor Torbjörn Lindgren in the Dalarna region of Sweden, packed into a crate along with a smaller (but still huge) cousin, and is now on its way to Shanghai.

Where is the horse right now? Check out its live position on the map below:


View Journey of the Shanghai Expo Dalecarlian horse in a larger map

So far, the horse has travelled by truck from Mora, where it was built, to Göteborg, where it was put on a ship to Germany, and driven to Hamburg port. From there it was taken by ship to Rotterdam port, where it is being put on a container ship bound for China. Follow along in the coming weeks as the horse makes its way half-way around the world for its final destination at Shanghai Expo, in time for the opening on May 1, 2010.

You can also follow the horse by opening this file in the free application Google Earth.

See also a Swedish-language page about the travels of the Dalecarlian Horse, hosted by the providers of the geo-positioning technology used to track it, Future Position.

]]> Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:31:00 +0100 Pavilion construction: The story so far http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/pavilion-construction-the-story-so-far/ Check up on the pavilion's construction progress during these past nine months. The Swedish pavilion is the centerpiece of our country's participation at Shanghai Expo 2010. Designed by Swedish architecture firm SWECO, it will house an exhibition showcasing Sweden's spirit of innovation, and how this spirit permeates all aspects of Swedish society.

(You can see what it will look like when finished in this 3D simulation.)

Groundbreaking for the pavilion occurred on April 20, 2009, with just over a year to go before the opening of Expo on May 1, 2010. Here's a view of what the plot looked like during the ceremony:



Satellite imagery taken on April 2, 2009 was recently published to Google Maps and Google Earth. This is the view from space then:


You can explore more of the region in Google Maps here.

During the Shanghai summer, piles were driven into the ground — this is the foundation of every construction project. By September, the pavilion's steel skeleton started to take shape above ground:


In October, once the main steel girders were in place, work was started on placing the floors, as well as the stairs:



Of course, all of this is done with safety in mind:


Later in October, scaffolding was placed around the structure, so that work could begin on the the outer walls:


Simultaneously, work was started inside on the airconditioning ducts and sprinkler system:


The Swedish pavilion comprises of three cube-ish steel structures, and one wooden cube, arranged so that they form the Swedish flag when seen from above. The wooden structure will be an atrium-like entrance, and its assembly was begun in November, when all the parts had arrived:


Work continued apace throughout the Christmas holidays. Now in January, the roof is being installed:


Here is a view of where the roof-top bar will be, with Lupu Bridge in the background:


The future entrace of the pavilion will be here, minus the scaffolding, of course:-)


The aim is to have the main construction finished by the Chinese New Year in mid February. Then, focus will shift to installing the exhibition.

You can see more and higher-resolution pictures of the construction process on Flickr.

]]> Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:54:00 +0100 Pavilion exhibition area - a guided tour http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/pavilion-exhibition-area-a-guided-tour/ Sven gives us a guided tour of what will become the exhibition area. Sven Calander, the technical director of the Swedish pavilion at Shanghai Expo (which means he is the overal responsible person for its construction) today walked us through the exhibition area of the pavilion — or more precisely what will be the exhibition area:

In his guided tour, we see all five "rooms" that will house the exhibition. As you will have noticed, the pavilion is not ready yet :-), but construction is proceeding rapidly, without major hiccups. Currently, air conditioning and sprinkler systems are being installed. Soon, when the walls are complete, the outside panelling will start being put into place. The installation of the exhibition will begin just after Chinese new year, in February. And on May 1, you'll be able to walk through these rooms just like Sven did.

]]> Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0100 Annika Rembe's links for Shanghai Expo China Forum http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/annika-rembes-links-for-shanghai-expo-china-forum/ Sweden's Commissioner General Annika Rembe is speaking at the 7th 2010 Shanghai World Expo China... Sweden's Commissioner General for Shanghai Expo Annika Rembe is speaking at the 7th 2010 Shanghai World Expo China Forum in Beijing today, where the theme of the discussion is "Harmonious Community: Urban-Rural Integration".

Annika is talking about how Sweden has navigated the transformation from a primarily rural society to an urban one, and how rural and urban areas integrate today in modern Sweden. In her speech she mentions several examples of this urban-rural integration, and also that links to further information are available on this website:-) So here are those links:

SymbioCity: Sustainability by Sweden: A website that promotes holistic and sustainable urban development, finding potential synergies in urban functions and unlocking their efficiency and profitability. (English)

Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm: Hammarby Sjöstad is an exciting new district in Stockholm where the City has imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment, from day one. (English)

Vätra Hamnen, Malmö: In this former shipyard area, students, business people and residents now go about their lives and work. (English)

Älvstranden, Göteborg: This area's website is alas only available in Swedish, but Business Region Göreborg has a good article explaining the kind of innovations in passive housing this new urban area has. (English)

]]> Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:27:00 +0100 Sweden Expo Week http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/sweden-expo-week/ October 30 - November 5 was Sweden Expo Week in Shanghai. Sweden introduced the theme of its participation in Expo 2010 — Spirit of Innovation — at Sweden Expo Week, held October 30 - November 5 at the Hong Kong New World Tower in Shanghai.

Of course, openings wouldn't be any fun without opening ceremonies, so the exhibition was not so much unveiled as unzipped by Annika Rembe, Sweden's Commissioner General for Expo 2010. The zipper, in case you were wondering, is a Swedish invention, just the sort of thing that the spirit of innovation produces.

More photos on Flickr. You can find the press release on expo2010.se.

]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:24:00 +0100 Ceremony at the pavilion http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/ceremony-at-the-pavilion/ A visit by the Swedish Expo Committée to the pavilion prompts a ceremony. On October 31, 2009, the Swedish Shanghai Expo 2010 Committée visited the building site of the Swedish pavilion on the grounds of the World Exposition. In the panorama below, a ceremony for construction workers is taking place.


Ceremony at The Swedish Pavilion, Shanghai Expo in Shanghai

]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:21:00 +0100 Annika Rembe introduces the pavillion (video) http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/annika-rembe-introduces-the-pavillion-video/ Sweden's Commissioner General for Expo 2010 introduces the Swedish Pavilion.  

In the below video, Sweden's Commissioner General for Expo 2010 Annika Rembe introduces the Swedish Pavilion and explains the ideas behind it. Also speaking are SWECO architect Johannes Tüll, discussing the pavilion's physical structure, and Springtime's Carin Lembre, who is responsible for the pavilion's exhibition.

]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:57:00 +0100 3D flythrough of pavilion released http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/3d-flythrough-of-pavilion-released/ The architects of the Swedish pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 have just completed the official 3D... The architects of the Swedish pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 have just completed the official 3D fly-through of the pavilion, and it is available for the first time on the web right here:

Enclosure: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/9d_k64EDezY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1

]]> Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:27:00 +0200 Pavilion panoramas now on 360cities.net http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/pavilion-panoramas-now-on-360citiesnet/ You can now view and embed our expo panoramas on your own blog or site via 360cities.net. Here's... In addition to viewing the panoramas here on swedenexpo.cn, you can now also explore them on 360cities.net, a large repository for panoramas from all over the world.

360cities.net allows you to embed the panorama on your own blog or website, so you too can show them, just by copying and pasting some code:

Enclosure: http://www.360cities.net/javascripts/krpano/krpano.swf

Currently, there are four panoramas available, from Aug 3, Sept 7, Sept 15 and Sept 28. Click on the "Embed this" tab to get the code to paste into your own site. More are coming as the pavilion construction progresses.

]]> Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:42:00 +0200 Find the pavilion on (Google) Maps http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/find-the-pavilion-on-google-maps/ Where is the Swedish Pavilion, exactly? Google Earth and Maps are a fantastic way of seeing the world — but the imagery on there is usually a few years old, so in a fast-changing city like Shanghai that can meant that what you see in Google Earth is no longer there in real life.

And so it is with the site of the upcoming Shanghai Expo. If you check the area around the Swedish Pavilion on Google Maps or Earth, the current imagery just shows factories. Those factories are gone, however, replaced with intense construction of national pavilions.

On a recent visit to the pavilion, we used a GPS device to find the precise location of the Swedish pavilion grounds, and overlaid them on Google Maps. Here are the grounds of the pavilion on Google Maps. As you can see, there used to be a large factory at the location:

You can zoom in closer via the map in the above link.

Users of Google Earth can use a feature that lets them see historical satellite imagery for any location — in the area of the pavilion, back to 2000. For example, in 2004 there was still a residential area nestled amid the factories:

In 2002, Lupu Bridge was still being built:

In 2000, the construction on the bridge still needed to be started:

Hint: To turn on historical imagery in Google Earth, click on the clock icon in the top left of the application toolbar. Then move the slider to the left to see older imagery:

 Enclosure: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&t=h&msid=117696401954651933246.0004753f0437658b3b309&ll=31.185784,121.469693&spn=0.019091,0.022316&z=15&output=embed

]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:22:00 +0200 DreamHack coming to Shanghai Expo http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/dreamhack-coming-to-shanghai-expo/ Electronic game festival organizer DreamHack is coming to Expo. What you may not know is that Sweden is one of the biggest exporters of computer games — with some really talented game developers, as well as players. It's only fitting then that Sweden also has the world's largest LAN parties — think rock concerts for video game players — organized by DreamHack. To get an idea of how large they are, check out this video:

Enclosure: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/NXjJAneiilQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1

Now DreamHack is expanding to the rest of the world, and is coming to Shanghai during Expo 2010. The Swedish Pavilion will be the location of the finals of the Chinese e-sports qualifiers for DreamHack Summer 2010, to be held in Sweden later in the year. Read more here.

]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:19:00 +0200 Follow us via your favorite social media site http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/follow-us-via-your-favorite-social-media-site/ There are many ways in which you can stay updated on Swedish Expo news. There are many ways in which you can stay updated on news about the Swedish pavilion. This website is just one of them.

Are you on Facebook? Become a fan of the Swedish Pavilion. Do you use Twitter to stay updated? Follow us. We post our videos to YouTube, our photos to Flickr and our news as RSS. If you are in China, we are also on Xiaonei, Kaixin001 and Douban, and provide a Chinese-language Twitter feed.

Image credit: Morgan Finley

]]> Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200 Panorama walkthrough - what's on view? http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/panorama-walkthrough-whats-on-view/ Take a quick virtual guided tour of the pavilions being built near the Swedish pavilion. The panoramas on the home page do a good job of showing construction progress on the Swedish pavilion. You can't miss it - it's the big red steel construction growing right in front of the camera:



But what about those other metal skeletons sprouting from the ground? Here's a quick walkthrough of the most prominent ones:

Just below Lupu bridge, you can see the beginnings of the Belgian European pavilion, which will become a long rectangular building:



If you want to see what that pavilion will look like when finished, visit the Belgian European pavilion's website.

Further along, you can see two pavilions being built, one right behind the other. The closest one is the Danish pavilion, and behind it is the Finnish pavilion.



The Danish pavilion was designed by Bjarke Ingels of the famous architecture firm BIG, and it will feature a spiral causeway for visitors. Check out this video of the Danish pavilion:

Enclosure: http://www.youtube.com/v/SiM7cy98T60&hl=en&fs=1&

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev9ZbPULhOY&feature=player_embedded#t=78]

More photos are over on Arch Daily.

The Finnish pavilion will look like a "giant kettle", in the words of the architects. For images of the Finnish pavilion, visit its website.

]]> Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0200 Construction update: One very lucky helmet http://swedenexpo.cn/en/article/construction-update-one-very-lucky-helmet/ Master builder Sven updates us on construction progress during the weekend, and finds a lucky... By Sven Calander, Master Builder, Swedish Pavilion

This past weekend steel constructions started on area C, while area B is finalizing. [Each of the four building cubes are called A, B, C and D.] Today there are 14 workers and three supervisors from the steel supplier on the site; our supervision company Jianke is also present to check safety and quality. As you can see, the workers use safety belts and helmets. I found a very lucky helmet with 8888 written on it.



]]> Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0200