PAVILION OF LETTERS

New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria

Project idea

NATIONAL PAVILION CONCEPT
EXPO 2025 OSAKA, KANSAI, JAPAN.
EMIL ALEXIEV
PAVILION OF LETTERS
The theme of the exhibition is "Designing a Future Society for Our Lives" and gets people thinking about how they want to live and how they can maximize their potential. It also aims to stimulate the co-creation of the international community in designing a sustainable society that supports people's ideas about how they want to live. “As values and lifestyles have become increasingly diverse in recent years, technological innovation has enabled everyone to access and communicate previously unimaginable amounts of information. "And what is the information without letters? Even primitive machine codes and languages are a combination of letters and numbers.
Sub-themes - Saving Lives, Empowering Lives and Connecting Lives. For one reason or another, each of us could fit the "PAVILION OF LETTERS" equally well into all three sub-themes. When considering the location of the pavilion in the general plan, plot A25 was found to be of the best size and most easily accessible for all visitors. The size of the plot accordingly provides the possibility for a little more free planning and playing with the possible volumes. Plot A25 falls within the 'Connecting Lives' area of the general plan and 'focuses on engaging all, building communities and enriching society. This sub-theme can be linked to more specific keywords, for example the power of partnership and co-creation, advanced communications enabled by ICT and design for a data-driven society.'
"Every architect dreams of his pyramid". The pyramid, as a perfect geometric and structural model, praised since the pharaohs, with its perfect vision and extravagance, is both fitting and noticeable. This is how the idea of my pyramid (Pavilion) of letters was born. Creating the volume, combined with the materials used, one could read and find different letters implanted in the facades (even the Latin "V"). How much and what the inscribed letters symbolize is in the eye of the beholder ("V" - from Latin, Victoriae). Thus, further developing the previous concept, we arrive at the concept of the furniture - furniture made of letters, designed especially for the exhibition. The shape and size of the letters made it possible to design chairs, armchairs, tables, benches, counters, racks, pots and light tunnels. At the same time, it is not necessary to create additional space for the letters, so everything is much more harmonious and eccentric.
The pyramid has a total height of 15m (by assignment) with three floors above ground and one underground. The aspiration in the design is to flow volumes and spaces into each other. For this purpose and for connection, a parade spiral staircase was used, and for connection at the first above-ground half-levels, the intermediate landing was used. As a result, the volume of a flying white dove (symbol of peace) was obtained. The development of the underground level enabled the location of a modern presentation space and the interactive "VIP" hall. Multiple light tunnels were used to achieve normal illumination of the underground areas. The pavilion - a stand for product presentation, is also on the ground level as a kind of continuation of the exhibition areas. Light tunnels provide a suitable way for accentuation.
At level zero, there are only exhibition areas and a ghost zone, flowing into one whole. On the second level (half levels), only the "VIP" areas are located in the immediate vicinity of the cafe on the third level. All service and office premises are located on the underground level.
Construction - as a concept, three options are possible - metal, reinforced concrete and mixed. The most suitable is the mixed one.
Basic principles in design and conception are representation, design, symbolism and functional relationships.
The basis for the architectural proposal is the character of the space. Each of the layers of a given subtheme is considered as a layer in time. The preservation and understanding of the layers is essential for architecture, because it draws its language from them. The idea of a building gives it the true human and philosophical volume.

Project description

The pyramid has a total height of 15m (by assignment) with three floors above ground and one underground. The aspiration in the design is to flow volumes and spaces into each other. For this purpose and for connection, a parade spiral staircase was used, and for connection at the first above-ground half-levels, the intermediate landing was used. As a result, the volume of a flying white dove (symbol of peace) was obtained. The development of the underground level enabled the location of a modern presentation space and the interactive "VIP" hall. Multiple light tunnels were used to achieve normal illumination of the underground areas. The pavilion - a stand for product presentation, is also on the ground level as a kind of continuation of the exhibition areas. Light tunnels provide a suitable way for accentuation.
At level zero, there are only exhibition areas and a ghost zone, flowing into one whole. On the second level (half levels), only the "VIP" areas are located in the immediate vicinity of the cafe on the third level. All service and office premises are located on the underground level.

REQUIREMENTS:
The purpose of the competition is to design a Bulgarian pavilion for "Expo 2025" in Osaka.
The competition period is November 25, 2022 - May 24, 2023

Functional and urban planning task:
- welcome zone 100m2
- temporary exhibitions, two zones, 300m2 and 200m2
- permanent exhibition 300м2
- WC 25m2
- coffee 125m2
- kitchen 10m2
- storage (coffee) 10m2
- waste 10m2
- office 55m2
- staff area 10m2
- dressing room, lockers 10m2
- VIP zone 115m2
- VIP coworking zone 85m2
- kiosk 50m2
- storage (all area) 55m2

- built-up area of the plot 70%
- maximum height, up to 12-15m.
Theme:
Designing Future Society for Our Lives The theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” makes individuals think how they want to live and how they can maximise their potential. It is also intended to drive co-creation by the international community in designing a sustainable society that supports individuals’ ideas of how they want to live. In other words, the Expo will ask a straightforward question to everyone, “What is the happy way of life?” for the first time. The Expo will correspond to this time when new social challenges, including expanding economic gaps and heightened conflicts, are emerging while science technologies are evolving, including AI and biotechnologies, that will present changes to humankinds, for example, extended life spans. While values and ways of living have become increasingly diversified in recent years, technological innovations enable everyone to access and communicate a hitherto unimaginable amount of information. Fully considering such progress, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, will feature health, medical, and other advanced initiatives, including carbon neutrality 4 and digitisation, and collect wisdom and the best practices from around the world to provide solutions to various issues with diverse values considered.
Subthemes:
To elaborate further on the discussion of ‘life’ as the central piece of the Expo’s theme, three subthemes have been established: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. Lives referred to herein as part of subthemes cover not only one’s daily life or one’s life span, but also the life as what makes everybody and everything alive. Japanese culture has long been based on the belief that any material, from all living creatures to even a pebble along the road, have an inherent life in them. With this in mind, the Expo welcomes the consideration of ‘life’ not just for human beings but also in a broader sense of diverse creations and nature that surround humans.

Saving Lives:
The subtheme of ‘Saving Lives’ focuses on protecting lives. This subtheme may be associated with more specific keywords, such as countermeasures against infectious diseases through improvement in public health, ensuring safety through disaster readiness and disaster risk reduction initiatives, and harmonious coexistence with nature.
Empowering Lives:
Empowering Lives focuses on enriching the lives of individuals and expanding their potential. Exhibitions on this may include, for example, high quality remote education through the use of ICT; theextension of a healthy life span through appropriate exercise and diet; and the maximisation of human potential through the use of AI and robotics.

Connecting Lives:
The subtheme of ‘Connecting Lives’ focuses on getting everyone engaged, building communities and enriching society. This subtheme may be associated with more specific keywords, for example, the power of partnership and co-creation, advanced communications enabled by ICT, and the design of a data-driven society.

Concept:
People’s Living Lab
The concept of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, is “People's Living Lab.” This concept represents the Expo’s approach toward putting its theme into practice and serves as a guideline for projects to be implemented in this Expo to evolve the Expo’s style into a place for more practical actions. It can be said that the most distinctive characteristic of this Expo will be the endeavour to give a realistic picture of a future society not just through thought but also through action. This endeavour will be being begun before the Expo, by inviting diverse participants to come together with various initiatives (such as health and medical initiatives and initiatives concerning carbon neutrality and digitisation) in their respective positions and tackle challenges whose solution will help achieve the SDGs at or outside the Expo venue. Positioning the Expo venue as a laboratory where new technologies and systems will be verified, we will raise it into a huge apparatus that will trigger the creation of innovations by diverse players and apply those innovations to real society.

The site for the Expo is located in Yumeshima, an artificial island located on the waterfront in Osaka that offers visitors a view of the Seto Inland Sea. We will promote the Expo as the one connected to the world through the surrounding sea and sky, as well as providing programmes taking advantage of the venue’s location. With an area of 1.55 km2 , the venue will have a pavilion area in its centre, with waters in its southern part and greenery in its western part.

Technical information

Construction - as a concept, three options are possible - metal, reinforced concrete and mixed. The most suitable is the mixed one.
Basic principles in design and conception are representation, design, symbolism and functional relationships.
2218sq.m.

Documentation

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