Geoscience Reference
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representation of what the exhibit highlights as the “100 best practices in
both the German and the international context,” through global leaders in
environmental technologies like Bosch and Daimler/smart. Many of the
panels along the “Road of Solutions” borrowed ideas from the “Cradle to
Cradle” design movement, as defi ned by the manifesto by the American
architect William McDonough and the German environmental activist/
chemist Michael Braungart. h eir call is to look to nature to solve environ-
mental problems. McDonough was, of course, the main force behind Huang-
baiyu. h ey argue that many environmental problems can be solved by
better design, and that designers should look to nature and natural systems
to create healthy products, buildings, and societies. h e exhibit highlighted
this perspective through the repetition of bionic structures. According to
Triad, these bionic forms formed the core “sceneography” (in their words) in
this section: “h ree-dimensional sculptures are the dominating design
elements. . . . With their structures showing both a coolly technoid and a
biomorphic structure, they symbolize the amalgamation of nature and tech-
nology:
Without technology there will be no eco-friendly change.
h e forms of the
three-dimensional sculptures are duplicated in the two-dimensional reliefs,
which are used as displays for the content of the respective topics” (empha-
sis added).
pavilion of the future
h e fetish for technology was echoed, albeit in slightly diff erent form, in the
Pavilion of the Future. Located on the older Puxi side of the river, the pavilion
took place in a repurposed industrial building. A hybrid of the Chinese-
designed City Being, and the German Pavilion of the Urban Planet, this pavil-
ion was also designed by a European company but with a signifi cant Chinese
infl uence in the original fi lms. Utopia and dystopia quite literally permeated
the exhibit. According to the o' cial guide, the pavilion tells how a city was
“envisaged, planned and realized” in history. h
is view of planning draws
