1. The theme of Shanghai Expo is “better city, better life”. How do you echo it in your design? Compared with other Pavilions, what do you think is the most striking feature of the EU pavilion?

ALAIN NANDRIN: The theme “better city, better life” is at the heart of the European pavilion. At its core is a ‘cyclorama’ - a huge 360-degree cinema screen that enables visitors to feel what it is like to live in a European city.

There, visitors will be shown every aspect of European urban life - the city centers, restaurants, parks, sports and entertainment venues, universities and museums that are so unique to our continent. It will dazzle the visitor with colourful sights and vibrant sounds of our exciting European life. The idea is to give the visitor the emotional sensation of what it is like to live in European cities, where the “better city, better life” is not only a motto, but a way of life for our citizens.

Central to modern city living in Europe is how to reconcile our lifestyles with the protection of the environment – which is why the biggest part of the exhibition is called “green attitude”.

This shows Europe’s changing approach to the natural environment ranging from the past, where Europeans decided to the stop the heavy pollution of the continent, the present - where Europe is trying to change people’s lifestyles - and a future where Europeans need to invent new solutions using cutting-edge research and technology.

2. “Intelligent Europe” has being emphasized in the promotion of the Pavilion. How did this motto come about? Where can we see it in the design of the Pavilion?

ALAIN NANDRIN: Human intelligence is about building connections between different parts of the brain; building an “intelligent” Europe is about creating connections across national boundaries to contribute to peace and prosperity in Europe and around the world.

To bring about this concept of “intelligent Europe”, visitors first enter the European pavilion through a brain cell, the symbol of human intelligence. Then they can discover in three phases how the European Union is bringing Europeans closer together to lead a better life.

The first area is a short and friendly introduction to the European Union where visitors can get to know the founding principles of the EU and its evolution from a peace project following World War Two to today’s 27-member club.

In the second area, visitors will see how Europe has created a common area between its member states that has no borders but common rules and a single market where one can move freely. They will see what it means for everyday citizens, whether they are business people, students or shoppers. Visitors will be introduced to the ‘Euro”, Europe’s common currency that has made life so much easier for doing business and travelling around Europe.

In the third area, visitors get to see how Europe is facing, in an “intelligent” way, one of today’s biggest challenges: climate change and the protection of the environment.

3. What’s the core design of the EU Pavilion and are there any exhibition parts that deserve recommending?

ALAIN NANDRIN: From the outset we wanted to convey the message that Europe is not just a geographical space but a way of life. So the grand finale of this European experience is the "Europe Feels - Cyclo", a cylindrical-shaped array of screens that bombards the visitor with the colorful sights and vibrant sounds of European life. The idea is to give visitors an insight into what it is like to be a citizen of today’s diverse European cities.

Visitors will get to see and hear the sights and sounds of European life through its cities, architecture, people and scenes of daily life - including restaurants, food, music, sports, family gatherings and so on.

The huge cylinder-like shape of the cinema screen ensures that visitors are fully immerged in a new environment. We strongly recommend visitors to immerse themselves in the experience because it will give them the emotional sensation of what it is like to live in European cities. It is like travelling to Europe without having to buy a plane ticket, so it is good value for money!

4. What’s the biggest difficulty you have encountered with when you design the Pavilion?

ALAIN NANDRIN: The biggest difficulty has been to summarize the European Union in an exhibition that visitors are likely to spend about 10 to 15 minutes in. The European Union is a vast and ambitious project active in all fields of life – from the quality of the water we drink in Europe to vetting mergers between companies to providing aid to poor parts of the world. Reducing all that to a few headline goals without boring visitors or resorting to over-simplification was tough but I am confident we have succeeded in our task.

5. Do you have any stories that you want to share with our readers?

ALAIN NANDRIN: One of the greatest things on this project is that we have been working with engineers, architects, designers, film-makers, producers, journalists, translators and many other people from the different member states of the European Union and from China.

Together we worked towards a common goal, which is to introduce the European Union to the public at the Shanghai expo. The creative idea of the EU’s Ambassador to China, Mr. Serge Abou, was to communicate around the theme “intelligent Europe” and I think this was a clever choice.

While working on this concept of “Intelligent Europe” – which involves building connections across national boundaries to work together for a better life - we realised it was actually part of our daily life to work as a team. This convinced us even more to make this project a great success!