Expo 'love affair' yields book
By Yao Minji |
March 30, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Shanghai World Expo in 2010 was the biggest event in Expo history, attracting 73 million visitors and inspiring a host of publications before, during and afterward.
Reams have been written about the event titled "Better City, Better Life" and thousands of photographs published. But few publications are as interesting, eloquent and personal as a coffee table "love affair" photo book by a German family, the Steubes.
"The Unbeatable - Contemporary Masterpieces" not only documents the architectural, economic and political legacy of the Expo - it features interviews with architects and designers of 84 international pavilions - but also represents a colorful, personal and nostalgic account of the kaleidoscope of events.
In fact, it's a museum of people and architecture over 184 days.
Katarina Steube and her parents Monika and Detlef Steube visited the Chinese mainland for the first time because of the Expo. Katarina and Monika, both professional photographers, were commissioned by nine national pavilions to take photos. They fell in love with the Expo Park and the city at first sight. Detlef Steube, a businessman, also contributed photographs.
"Love affair" was how they described their relationship with the Expo and city.
It led to a 480-page bilingual (English, Chinese) coffee-table style book that revisits the World Expo in Shanghai through thousands of expertly taken and arranged photos, as well as quotes from Expo participants, notably the architects behind the spectacular pavilions.
"On November 1, 2010, I was in the park, which was so quiet. It was very weird, sad and peaceful at the same time, almost like the time before it all started. I hadn't seen the park like that in the entire six months, and it was such an amazing yet sad feeling that life would be very different from then on," Katarina Steube recalled. Expo ran from May 1 to October 31, 2010.
Katarina Steube, an architecture photographer, first visited the Expo Park in August 2009 on tour for her architectural photo book "Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House." Construction of many pavilions was just beginning. She returned as commissioned photographer for the Australia Pavilion and brought in Monika when eight more pavilions needed Expo photo documentation.
None had thought about a book until the Expo ended and they had mountains of photos of pavilions, inside out.
"The whole Expo experience was so overwhelming and amazing that it only made sense to dedicate a book to it," said Detlef Steube, who came up with the title "The Unbeatable," the only one they considered.
Each of the three authors, who witnessed the entire event, gives a very personal message in the introduction. Then come basic facts, maps and an index of major architecture awards for some pavilions.
The book is divided into two parts, Expo Tour and Expo People. Tour covers architectural achievements, design concepts and motivations of architects and designers.
They spent nearly a year interviewing the architects of 84 international pavilions, including 27 award-winning projects that awed visitors from around the world.
"It's very important to involve all the architects. It is a very rare occasion when all have the same theme 'Better City Better Life' and come out with very different works. Every piece of work is very unique," said Katarina Steube.
The People section contains a fascinating array of people from around the world - including Chinese from remote villages.
"After all, Expo is for the people, who are all part of the grand event. And architecture is for people, it's nothing if it doesn't let people feel it and feel connected to it," Katarina Steube said. "The book is as much about people as it is about architecture."
The book is available through www.ExpoTheUnbeatable.com and Amazon UK and Swindon Books HK.
Reams have been written about the event titled "Better City, Better Life" and thousands of photographs published. But few publications are as interesting, eloquent and personal as a coffee table "love affair" photo book by a German family, the Steubes.
"The Unbeatable - Contemporary Masterpieces" not only documents the architectural, economic and political legacy of the Expo - it features interviews with architects and designers of 84 international pavilions - but also represents a colorful, personal and nostalgic account of the kaleidoscope of events.
In fact, it's a museum of people and architecture over 184 days.
Katarina Steube and her parents Monika and Detlef Steube visited the Chinese mainland for the first time because of the Expo. Katarina and Monika, both professional photographers, were commissioned by nine national pavilions to take photos. They fell in love with the Expo Park and the city at first sight. Detlef Steube, a businessman, also contributed photographs.
"Love affair" was how they described their relationship with the Expo and city.
It led to a 480-page bilingual (English, Chinese) coffee-table style book that revisits the World Expo in Shanghai through thousands of expertly taken and arranged photos, as well as quotes from Expo participants, notably the architects behind the spectacular pavilions.
"On November 1, 2010, I was in the park, which was so quiet. It was very weird, sad and peaceful at the same time, almost like the time before it all started. I hadn't seen the park like that in the entire six months, and it was such an amazing yet sad feeling that life would be very different from then on," Katarina Steube recalled. Expo ran from May 1 to October 31, 2010.
Katarina Steube, an architecture photographer, first visited the Expo Park in August 2009 on tour for her architectural photo book "Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House." Construction of many pavilions was just beginning. She returned as commissioned photographer for the Australia Pavilion and brought in Monika when eight more pavilions needed Expo photo documentation.
None had thought about a book until the Expo ended and they had mountains of photos of pavilions, inside out.
"The whole Expo experience was so overwhelming and amazing that it only made sense to dedicate a book to it," said Detlef Steube, who came up with the title "The Unbeatable," the only one they considered.
Each of the three authors, who witnessed the entire event, gives a very personal message in the introduction. Then come basic facts, maps and an index of major architecture awards for some pavilions.
The book is divided into two parts, Expo Tour and Expo People. Tour covers architectural achievements, design concepts and motivations of architects and designers.
They spent nearly a year interviewing the architects of 84 international pavilions, including 27 award-winning projects that awed visitors from around the world.
"It's very important to involve all the architects. It is a very rare occasion when all have the same theme 'Better City Better Life' and come out with very different works. Every piece of work is very unique," said Katarina Steube.
The People section contains a fascinating array of people from around the world - including Chinese from remote villages.
"After all, Expo is for the people, who are all part of the grand event. And architecture is for people, it's nothing if it doesn't let people feel it and feel connected to it," Katarina Steube said. "The book is as much about people as it is about architecture."
The book is available through www.ExpoTheUnbeatable.com and Amazon UK and Swindon Books HK.
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