The company specialises in creating exciting and informative visitor experiences and won the NZTE Shanghai contract three years ago after gaining a major award for its work at the 2005 Aichi expo in Japan.
But unlike the Aichi pavilion which focussed largely on New Zealand tourism using the 100% Pure logo, Shanghai will be strong on attracting business including investment, trade and children’s offshore education.
Story Inc co-director and partner Steve La Hood said that while the 100% Pure message at Aichi was good for tourism, the focus of the Shanghai pavilion was promoting an economy with new ideas.
The New Zealand Pavilion theme “Cities of Nature: Living between Land and Sky” was adapted from the Expo’s “Better Cities: Better Living” format to match the size of this country’s metropolitan centres.
“We don’t have cities like Shanghai, New York or London,” La Hood said. “We are like small suburbs of those but lovely and gorgeous.
“Ours are among the world’s most enviable cities with their access to nature while being successful in the business world as well – they are nestled in nature and we wanted to reflect those environments in steps through a day in the life of our cities from dawn to dusk.”
The 2000squm pavilion features the Maori legend of Tane, who separated his parents Sky and Earth to create the world.
Visitors are welcomed into a three-act play which begins with a young girl waking at dawn in Auckland and moves from the sea to the suburbs and mountains as the day progresses.
“Visitor experiences must be engaging, attractive, fun and educational and we meet those objectives by telling a story in the most creative ways with new technology such as interactive multi-media,” La Hood said.
The final act is the roof garden with Native New Zealand flora, thermal lakes, geysers and a 1.8 tonne pounamu boulder representing the jade culture shared by the Chinese and indigenous Maori.
Mr La Hood said the $23 million pavilion cost included around $8 million for the experience fit-out – ‘it is a terrific international advertisement for New Zealand,’ he said.
“The pavilion has a sense of welcome for people on holiday, doing business or sending children here to school.”
While around four million of a total 22 million people who attended the Aichi expo visited the New Zealand pavilion there, many more are expected to experience the Shanghai model after the six-month expo opens on May 1.
