Foremost in our minds was to tell a story that explored expo’s theme – ’nature’s wisdom’ – and excited every visitor about modern Australia. While allowing for the facilitation of six trade missions, consisting of over 150 targeted events, DFAT also requested an experience that catered for a minimum of three million people over the course of the world fair. We designed a pavilion that was split into two distinct areas. On the ground floor was a popular experience for mainstream visitors and on the first floor was a fully functioning space including offices, a function area and corporate kitchen, which accommodated the numerous trade missions.

An experience in three acts
In exploring the theme ‘nature’s wisdom’ we focused on a core thread ‘the lessons of the past applied to the present will create a sustainable future’. This was illustrated across three exhibition spaces.

• Act 1 – Nature’s Wisdom, a 
’pepper’s ghost’ black theatre, which was an Indigenous story about the creation of our land.
• Act 2 – The Art of Life, an immersive high-definition audio-visual experience in which a ‘data-forest’ represented modern Australia.
• Act 3 – Eco-communities, a tactile scenic environment where a giant platypus created constant media opportunities.

The video above demonstrates the main Act Two show using a unique playback system that ran off 16 Mac Pro towers
running bespoke software.