Other Thematics

Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from June 1 to October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground (Messegelände Hannover, which is famous for hosting CeBIT). The fair was not a financial success. more...

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The fair's masterplan was designed in a joint venture with Studio d'Arnaboldi / Cavadini, Locarno and AS&P (Albert Speer und Partner GmbH).

History

Background

On June 14, 1990 the international world's fair organization B.I.E. awarded Expo 2000 to Hanover, beating out other cities such as Toronto. In 1992 the architects Studio Arnaboldi/Cavadini of Locarno win an international design competition for the masterplan of the exhbition grounds. On June 12 of that same year a survey conducted by the city council was made public showing only 51.5% of area residents supported hosting the expo.

Construction

On May 5, 1994 a new company was created by the government in Bonn Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung und Durchführung der Weltausstellung EXPO 2000 in Hannover (EXPO 2000 Hanover GmbH). Headed by chairman Helmut Werner, the company was responsible for the construction and management of the fair.

In 1995 the supervisory board agreed on the concept for the thematics of the fair. Construction finally began on April 22, 1996.

Unlike previous expos, which focused on present advances in science and technology, EXPO 2000 focused more on developing and presenting solutions for the future.

The Fair

The fair opened to the public on June 1st 2000 and ran six months, ending on October 31.

The Expo site was situated on the original 1,000,000 square meters of the Hannover Fair; an additional 600,000 m² was also made available as a newly opened section to the grounds. As a visitor walked in and tickets were taken, looking above to the approximately 4-story-high ceiling, a visitor would have noticed the huge circular pods that held large TVs showing animated people greeting the visitors and providing tourist information in different languages. Some ten large McDonalds restaurants were also built, along with restaurants representing several of the exhibitor countries. Small retail locations were also setup to supply Expo merchandise. The United States reversed its decision to take part at a relatively late stage, and the area set aside for the American pavilion was left undeveloped.

40,000,000 visitors were expected at Expo 2000, but only 17,210,000 people came to see the event. This led to a financial deficit of about $200,000,000. With pre-ordered tickets priced at 69 DM, the fair seemed expensive compared to other days out. Commentator Georg Giersberg wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that entrance fees for Germany's 53 main theme parks cost on average less than half the price as the Expo (about 30 DM). Other financial shortfalls came from a lack of corporate sponsorship in which it cost US$4.8 million to be an official product supplier or US$14.5 million to become a world partner. Part of the failure of the Expo was a lack of clear perception of what to expect at Expo 2000, not helped by a \"cerebral\" advertising campaign that had failed to explain what the Expo was for. In a 2000 Time magazine article a Berlin-based marketing firm Scholz & Friends stated that \"the organizers have failed to convey to the public a clear image of what Expo 2000 is going to be: an entertainment park, a blown-up museum, or a nature reserve.\" In the same article Ralf Strobach, secretary of Hanover's Citizens' Initiative for Environment Protection, said that \"For a long time, companies were unsure if they would be putting money in an eco-show or a showcase for their latest inventions.\"

Read more at Wikipedia.org