SHANGHAI EXPO 2010. Townscape. 
The
Expo Shanghai 2010 is what has probably had more media coverage, particularly in the blogosphere. The pageantry and spectacle of this mega event, echoing those unforgettable
Olympics in Beijing in 2008 , have left a clear message: the Chinese government wants to emphasize its role as a world power and set a precedent difficult to overcome in such international events.
This moleskine I wanted to focus the discussion on the Expo Shanghai 2010 compared to its predecessor, Aichi 2005
. This parallel not only makes clear the emphasis on the age-old Sino-Japanese rivalry, but in marked contrast to the emphasis each placed in their respective host exhibition: predominance of rural or urban, a trace organic or orthogonal grouping pavilions scattered across forests and lakes around a compact waterfront, etc.
This post is dedicated to reviewing the most outstanding urban aspects of the Exhibition Shanghai, and also will highlight the area of \u200b\u200bBest Urban Experience. In the next installment will share with you some views on the architecture
some international pavilions.
LOCATION With the theme "Better City, Better Life" , the Shanghai Expo seeks to highlight the importance of urban design in the environmental and social quality of its inhabitants. Planning for this Expo in Shanghai will not be left to chance and has been working diligently since his nomination in 2002. I remember the first time I visited Shanghai in 2005, and had a detailed model of its development in the municipal building in urban planning, located in the central Piazza del Popolo.
Antigua model of the Expo, with an impressive pedestrian bridge, not built.
exposure to this effect extends to both sides of the Huangpu River to the west of the Bund
. These zones are called Pudong, south with Puxi 3.93 km2 and 1.35 km2 to the north. The iconic Lupu bridge spans both areas but has no direct contact with the Expo.
Expo Spectacular developments in just 10 years
2000, Lupu Bridge did not exist 
2004, Lupu bridge already exists, but the Expo area is a slum area 
2008, works for the Expo 
2010, the impressive park of the Expo is ready. ORGANIZATION. The Shanghai Expo is organized in a large slightly curved pattern that follows the contour of the river, and crossed by major pedestrian cross-axes on each side, particularly the so-called Expo Boulevard.
The distribution has been divided clearly in 5 zones, the first three in Pudong and the other two in Puxi:
Zone: Covers from the stream Bailianjing to the Expo Boulevard. Comprises the area of \u200b\u200bnational pavilions from China and other Asian pavilions.
South Korea Pavilion
Zone B: Between the Expo Boulevard Bridge and Lupu (below it). Here are the flags of Southeast Asia, the Expo Center, the area of \u200b\u200bartistic and flags of international organizations.
Zone C: Located west of the bridge Lupu to Houtan, the west end of the exhibition in Pudong. Here are the other international pavilions, Europeans, Africans and Americans.
Zone D: the other side of the river, west of the Expo Boulevard, welcomes corporate pavilions.
During my visit, China had launched its first rocket to the moon.
Zone E: Covers from the Expo Boulevard to the eastern edge of the Expo. Includes Pbellón of Human Civilization and Best Practices Area Urban UBPA.
The Expo Center, looks like a large flying saucer. The photo is not crooked (note that the floor is level), the building is really steep.
TRANSPORT
The challenge of organizing an exhibition on both sides of a water front without a pedestrian bridge that one, involved the organization of a ferry service or ferries carrying thousands of visitors that moves daily between these two zones. In addition, a number of buses run lengthwise on each side of the Expo.
Lines transportation within the Expo.
AREA OF BEST PRACTICE URBAN UBPA 
Most of the discussion about the Shanghai Expo has centered around the national pavilions, some more than others, have been showcases tourism in their countries. Of course, that's not bad, but few international flags have adhered to the theme of the Expo. But while in the Pudong area countries exhibit in the Puxi area exhibit the cities, particularly in the Urban Best Practices Area, or UBPA.
The case of Guangzhou, a city that exposed communally.
Paul Mc. Cartney, typical of the flag of Liverpool. This is an opportunity for different cities to share experiences on urban management, emphasizing the focus on sustainable development, technological advances to achieve a more efficient management of resources and efforts to preserve heritage.
UBPA In outlining more than 60 cities, in some cases more than one city per country, including which were Hamburg, Guangzhou, Malmö, Milan, Zaragoza, Moscow, Cairo, Suzhou
, Liverpool, Venice, Santiago
, Prague, Philadelphia, Porto Alegre, Madrid, Paris / Ile de France, Alsace, Seoul, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Zurich, Rotterdam, Vancouver
, Taipei, London,
Bilbao, Bologna, Oulu, Osaka, Ahmedabad, Barcelona
, etc. Some of these cases have been treated in this moleskine or hope to treat in the future in more detail.
London Pavilion emphasized the low carbon.
Experience lake front Ahmedabad, India. Some had its own pavilion, many other pavilions were located in common. Among the experiences visited, I will review 4: Hamburg, Alsace, Madrid and Vancouver. HAMBURG
This flag I brought to mind the German city stores, these boxes of brick facing the port of Hamburg. The language of the building, however, stands out for its modernity, a composition of intersecting parallelepipeds that generate tension and dynamism despite its formal simplicity. Particularly dramatic is the main flying define a virtual field, extending over a reflecting pool that surrounds the building, perhaps another reference to the heritage of the city port.
But besides this building is notable for what is not visible to the naked eye, large environmental efficiency. Under the slogan "zero gas emissions, the building uses energy saving principles specific to the climate of Shanghai, as the use of layers of thermal insulation and high-tech instruments, allowing to reduce the use of heat during the summer and air conditioning in winter. Also taken into account in implementation of shutters that open or close gradually as solar intensity.
Inside, he showed the case of urban planning and the recovery port of Hamburg, particularly Hafen City, a subject on which I will expand further in subsequent entries.
a very clear artistic element in the sample was called "Tree of Good Wishes", an allegory to a tree whose branches were scattered red across levels of the building in a contemporary version of
Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia . Visitors are invited to write a message of goodwill and send it to the city of Hamburg.
ALSACE 
The flag of the central-western French city is configured as a distorted prism coated with a metal frame, and which in one side there a wall covered with vegetation, which reminded me to the concept of Bio Lung
at Expo Aichi 2005 .
But highlight of this project, designed by Architectural Design Institute of Alsace, AADI, was the wall of water, a system to recycle air and heat or cool depending on the season year.
glazed wall actually consists of three layers: the outside is a photoelectric panel, the middle is a sealed cabin and the third layer of glass is washed by the water-activated system solar energy. In summer the water can cool the incoming hot air, while in winter the water system pauses and the outer layer transforms solar energy into electricity, while the air trapped between two layers of glass is heated by the sun and then recycled to the rest of the house. MADRID
displayed Madrid Experience through an extensive pavilion called "House of Bamboo" and an external structure, called the "Air Tree".
latter turns electrical energy into a giant photo fan reduces the temperature in long days of heat, and that is a replica of
Eco Boulevard de Vallecas , by Urban Ecosystem.
An escalator leads to the Bamboo House, named for the screens made of this material and to allow controlled access of light and heat into the building.
Sample includes many items from the culture and history in Madrid, from replicas of works of art, as
Velázquez's Las Meninas, to the football passion of local teams like Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Model of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium with a replica of "Las Meninas" by Velazquez 
Model of the Plaza Mayor of Madrid .
But most relevant to this post were exposed architectural urban experiences. I particularly interested in the proposed recovery Manzanares River, whose basin has unfortunately been channeled and cemented. Madrid
River Project seeks to "recover
urban banks of the Manzanares River and its waters as a central axis and nexus of environmental corridor of nearly 3,000 ha, which extends from north to south. "
Another aspect to stress were the public housing projects have been implemented in the English capital. I recognized the building
Mirador, although there were also many other examples of interventions room, which highlighted the social and environmental character has been taken into account in them.
Model of Building Sanchinarro viewpoint. 
VANCOUVER 
The flag of the Canadian city theme focuses on the versatility in the use of wood, a renewable resource that, when working with appropriate techniques , can be earthquake-proof and efficient. The pavilion consists of two volumes, an opaque box and a glass dome, and was designed by Canadian architect Jan Benda, using a hybrid technology of concrete and wood. Vancouver, a city surrounded by mountains, has a long tradition of using wood in construction. An example of this was the Olympic Oval skating
Richmond , used in
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and, as mentioned earlier in this moleskine.
addition, the exhibition presents to Vancouver as a "sanctuary city" where city planning has focused on programs of high and medium density (unlike some extensive and inefficient American suburbs) the excellent infrastructure transport and urban planning that led to recover an area of \u200b\u200bindustrial waste to make it modern equipment Olympic, all surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty surrounding the city (something I remember from Vancouver on trains is that there is a slogan that says "
British Columbia, the Best Place on Earth ." You can not deny they have a high self-esteem).
SEE ALSO
- UNIVERSAL EXHIBITIONS 
I've never been asked so many people take pictures with me and in the Shanghai Expo. I must be a kind of rare foreign, almost alien.
Antigua 
