This is the second in a three-part series to preview the Yeosu World Expo which will be held from May 12 to Aug. 12 in 2012. ㅡ ED.
By Park Si-soo
The 2012 Yeosu World Expo will capitalize on the crystal blue waters off the southern coast and Korea’s high-end information technology (IT) in attracting international and local visitors and to promote its theme, “The Living Ocean and Coast.”
In line with the vision, a pavilion materializing the theme will be built on water, the first construction of this kind for an expo.
The thematic pavilion will impressively show how human society may look in 2050, said the Yeosu Expo Organizing Committee.
“Ocean and coastal areas will be more important for life in the future. That’s why we will look for ways to better use and protect the ocean at the same time. The pavilion afloat on the water will symbolize the meaning of the upcoming expo,” the committee said.
The concept of the two-story building is an idea of a group of talented Austrian architects, selected through an international competition the committee hosted. A total of 136 teams from 31 nations vied in the contest.
The exhibition hall will remain after the expo to become a landmark of the city, 400 kilometers south of Seoul, the committee said.
All exhibition facilities, including the main hall, will be completed by February 2012. Unlike prior showing-oriented expos, the Yeosu Expo will maximize the use of interactive content with innovative screen technology.
Another must-visit pavilion the committee recommends is the Expo Digital Gallery (EDG). The EDG is an open-format, 600-meter-long exhibition hall that links a bullet-train KTX station with downtown Yeosu.
The railroad for the KTX bullet-train will be extended to the city by early 2012, enabling people in the northern part of the country to reach Yeosu in two or three hours. The expo aims to draw 8 million visitors.
The EDG was designed to show pictures, video clips and other high tech-based exhibits that will highlight the importance of developing coastal areas wisely and their preservation.
The third most anticipated pavilion is the Big-O. The Big-O is the first ever waterfront stage in an expo, where thousands of performances, cultural events and other forms of entertainment events will take place during the expo.