The first ever World Expo was organised in London in year 1851, and since then, world fairs have taken place all over the world with a frequency of every year to every few years. The last one before this year was held in 2012 in South Korea. But the most famous edition continues to be the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1900, the main reason being that it gave us the Eiffel Tower, which still today continues to attract millions of tourists every year.
Finland, too, took part in the 1900 exposition, albeit with a pavilion of only 400m2. Exhibited items included, among all, works by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Albert Edelfelt. This year Finland is absent, as are all other Nordic countries. The duration of a World Expo is usually anything between three and six months.
The themes of all of the recent World Expos have been tightly connected with nature, natural resources and sustainable development:
- 1998, Portugal: “The Oceans: A Heritage for the Future”
- 2000, germany: “Humankind, Nature, Technology”
- 2005, Japan: “Nature’s Wisdom”
- 2008, Spain: “Water and the Sustainable Development”
- 2012, South Korea: “Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities”
The theme in this year’s edition is food and its sufficiency: “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. As many as 140 countries are present in Expo Milano, either on their own country pavilions or taking part in various theme pavilions – and many of these countries have brought forth their most innovative ideas for developing food production.
“Over this six-month period, Milan will become a global showcase where more than 140 participating countries will show the best of their technology that offers a concrete answer to a vital need: being able to guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while respecting the Planet and its equilibrium.
The next World Expo will be held in 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, with the theme “Energy of the Future”.
World Expos attract millions of visitors
Taking part in a world fair is a big investment, whose costs can rise to millions of euros. On the other hand, Expo Milano is a great example of an event in which several smaller and poorer countries have chosen to participate with solutions that are small but creative, showing that a pavilion costing hundreds of millions is not a prerequisite for participation. The expositions attract millions of people, and like all exhibitions, World Expos generate long-term projects for their participants. For example, the Netherlands invested 35 million euros in Expo 2000, but according to estimates it has gained over 350 million euros in the form of investments, projects and other forms of cooperation that stemmed from that participation.
The visitor count of Expo Milano is expected to reach over 20 million. But the all-time record in the number of visitors will continue to be held by Shanghai, whose World Expo 2010 attracted over 73 million visitors.
Ideas and inspiration
World Expos are interesting events both for professionals in industries related to the event’s theme and for laymen tourists – but they are also particularly interesting for employees of companies providing exhibition services, such as Wulff Entre! Even though the most gorgeous stone-carved country pavilions are often “a bit too much” for a normal trade fair that only lasts a few days, the impressive constructions are indisputably a great source for inspiration for anyone not only in terms of their design, but also in terms of their contents.
Milan has, indeed, been visited by many Entre employees this summer, and the Expo has once again proved right one fundamental truth: namely that a well-designed, visually beautiful stand attracts visitors – sometimes long queues of them! – whereas “badly designed is only half done”. Japan’s pavilion was an example of the former, and the queuing time was constantly over 40 minutes.
Photos: Sari Venäläinen 2015.
This post has been originally posted in Finnish 10.7.2015. Translation by Annemari Kettunen.