The content of the pavilion

 

“Humanity is facing challenges in all aspects of our lives on our shared planet – now and into the future, on Earth and across the Universe. We need to collaborate and innovate to build our shared future.”

These words set the tone and message for the UK Pavilion visitor journey.

In 2018, the UK’s Department of International Trade (DIT) put out a nationwide call looking for a creative team to create a UK Pavilion experience that brought to life our theme statement we are ‘innovating for a shared future’.

The response was huge and the team at DIT, with the help of a specialist judging panel, brought together a multi-disciplinary team. This was just the start – we then needed to start to build the narrative and DIT went out to valued stakeholders, partners and our co-funding Government Departments to source innovators from every part of the UK which best showcased the role the UK plays in the advancement of AI and space exploration from medicine to music, fashion to robotics, AI-enabled bike lights to global observation satellites.

See some of the amazing innovations the UK has to offer in our Innovations section

Vitrine design

To help turn these amazing innovation stories into a format suitable for the radially curved vitrines, the DIT team, Avantgarde’s creative and design team and content consultants TGAC created a narrative that takes the visitor on an ever-expanding journey of innovation. It’s a journey that starts at the micro scale - the use of AI to identify cancer cells within the human body – and ends at the macro with building a spacecraft to orbit the Sun and exploring our solar system. 

Avantgarde’s design is highly visual, engaging visitors moving through the vitrines on their way to the Choral Space. Information can be picked up quickly by visitors of different languages and include AR experiences (designed by Pico Pixels) and integrated media, suitable for the varied audiences at this World Expo. The visual theme of networks runs through the design drawing the visitors upwards and outwards from inside the human body to the farthest reaches of our universe, while working with the powerful aesthetic of the UK Pavilion’s structure. The key task of artworking the graphics into curved vitrines is being undertaken by Pico, who are also responsible for the delivery of the Avantgarde designed Pavilion signage

Vitrine design progress

The theme of the UK Pavilion is further explored by a programme of events across business, culture, education and innovation. Each event will give visitors the opportunity to learn more about the UK’s role in building a shared future and to connect to other thinkers, designers, innovators and creators both in person and virtually.

By showcasing UK pioneers, who are addressing the challenges we face as a planet through creation, collaboration and invention, and the UK Pavilion will inspire its visitors.  With additional content on the Digital Companion for deeper exploration, they will arrive at the top of the UK Pavilion, with a real understanding “Innovating for a shared future”  and ready to donate their word to the AI algorithm that is creating the collective message from humanity to the Universe.