The Principality of Liechtenstein at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai

From May 1, to October 31, 2010, Shanghai will be hosting the largest ever world exhibition. The theme of EXPO 2010 is “Better City, Better Life”. The Principality of Liechtenstein will be present with a Pavilion on the EXPO sub-theme «Respect and Dialogue».

Addressing the EXPO theme «Better City, Better Life», Liechtenstein will show how a small state deals with global challenges such as urbanization and environmental degradation.
Liechtenstein has a population of about 36,000. The inhabitants live in eleven small towns that are situated in the Rhine Valley. Two thirds of the country's territory is mountainous and largely uninhabited. Thus, Liechtenstein is hardly urban. However, the built-up area of Liechtenstein is part of a sprawling regional agglomeration that encompasses neighboring parts of Austria and Switzerland.

Liechtenstein's Participation Theme
This situation makes clear that «Respect and Dialogue» are essential to the continuous development of the space people live in. The betterment of the agglomeration of which Liechtenstein is a part depends on respect for the natural environment as well as respect for the neighbors and their needs. As the saying goes, «no man is an island». In the same sense no city and no country is an island. Populations, cities and towns are interconnected and interdependent. In order to make their cities better, people need to show respect for each other and cultivate dialogue.

Three pavilions – Shanghai, Vaduz, World Wide Web
Liechtenstein’s participation at EXPO 2010 will consist of three major parts or «pavilions». In a pavilion in Shanghai, Liechtenstein will introduce herself to EXPO 2010 visitors. The presentation will highlight how respect for the natural environment as well as for the neighbors is prerequisite to the successful improvement of the space people live in.

In a pavilion to be built in Liechtenstein’s capital Vaduz, the focus will be on «Respect and Dialogue» between China and Liechtenstein in particular and all nations in general. In dealing with the challenges of the future, nations need to interact with respect for each other. During EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, the EXPO pavilion in Vaduz will host cultural events. The world, in particular China, will be brought to Liechtenstein. The pavilion is designed to be an international meeting place in Vaduz.

The third pavilion will be placed in the World Wide Web. In cooperation with the Institute of Architecture and Planning of the Hochschule Liechtenstein, this virtual pavilion will provide space for online laboratories in which students, architects and planners from both Liechtenstein and China will be able to develop designs and visions of urban habitats, focusing on advanced concepts of local energy and water autonomy, to help fight climate change and other challenges to social, economic and environmental well-being. Thus, Liechtenstein's virtual pavilion will host an ongoing collaboration involving students and planners from around the world.

The web-based pavilion is also used to connect the pavilions in Shanghai and Vaduz. Events (cultural performances as well as lectures) will be broadcast from one pavilion to the other via the World Wide Web.

Liechtenstein in Chinese
As the Principality of Liechtenstein is not well known in China, the name Liechtenstein or liè zhi dun shì deng evokes mostly vague associations. It is the goal of Liechtenstein's participation at EXPO 2010 to make the country better known as a modern, sovereign European state, located in the midst of the Alps. This notion is captured in a poetic Chinese phrase which means


(Towering Alps, resplendent Liechtenstein)

The prominent Chinese artist and calligrapher Liang Guorong rendered the phrase in traditional Chinese symbols. The text will be inscribed on the facade of the pavilions in Shanghai and Vaduz.