The recreation of a characteristic Greek city in a virtual artistic manner that focuses on reality and plurality is the main idea behind the Greek pavilion for the forthcoming Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis said on Monday.

The general idea for this year's EXPO which opens on May 1 is the city. The Greek response to the overall theme is hosted in a building of 2,000 square meters rented by the Greek for the six months EXPO will be running which was transformed by Tombazis and his team.

"We have covered the outside with pictures that have to do with Greece and the theme in different shades of blue and warm colors to give the light of the Mediterannean and we organized the interior with streets, a main square, a waterfront and different building blocks that serve as projection rooms for the presentation of our theme," Tombazis explained in an interview with Xinhua.

The whole presentation is organized on a real time basis. It starts in the morning and time is divided into four periods until the evening, so that the visitor can have an idea what is going on at the same time in Greece. The lighting changes corresponding to the actual time light of day.

The 5 themes of the Greek pavilion are: rural-urban, city-sea, prosperity, ecology and living together, said Tombazis and his associate Nikos Vratsanos who received Xinhua reporters at the offices of the design company "Meletitiki." The building was constructed based on a Tombazis design and there is a 20 percent less energy consumption compared to other common buildings in Athens.

Parallel to the projections in the building blocks of the Greek pavilion in Shanghai there is a small theater and a room with panorama for interaction between the picture and the visitor. There is also a kiosk, a waterfront with a fishing boat unfinished, a square with an olive tree surrounded by tables and chairs where visitors can have a snack and a grocery store where one can buy typical Greek products.

There are no physical exhibits in the Greek pavilion. Everything is done virtually by means of projection through 40 screens split into the rooms, broadcasting in real time images of Greek cities such as Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as the countryside. All are of high quality and were shot by cinematographer Apostolos Karakasis.

"The idea is to show reality, the truth, not condensed to anything," Tombazis stressed, adding that there is no set out movement, but the visitor can choose a path, take any of the streets, go in every room and choose the presentation he prefers best.

"There is plurality like in a city. We tried to avoid a presentation from a touristic point of view. The key world is plurality and if you see a bit of everything, you will get the feeling of the Greek city," he noted.

Acknowledging that it is hard for a small country like Greece to outdo superpowers that take part in the exhibition, Greeks chose to show the beauty and the real problems of living in a city and possible solutions, aiming to make clear to the visitor that besides differences there are common issues internationally.

The renowned Greek architect expressed his pleasure for the collaboration with Chinese. "It has been a very positive collaboration from both the technical and human part. One is always impressed with the dynamic and the capacity of Chinese reality," he said.

Tombazis has visited China several times, for first time in the late '80s and has seen the huge changes made.

"It is a pity that Chinese cities lose their traditional character. China has developed and earned the goods and evils of our present civilization," he noted, adding that it is necessary that one remembers the ecological problems of our times and tries to make his work sensitive and ecological, not just a show.

"One must respect the culture and climate of each place. That is what makes sense and is more beautiful. It is no coincidence all traditional buildings are more sensible everywhere. When one has limited means needs unlimited brains. With unlimited means, very often there are limited brains," he concluded.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments