German Pavilion: High-Tech for Better Life

130 X 291 cm     ac     2010/5/12

If one is familiar with the history if Western Modern Art, the one will easily recognize in the background of this artwork,Picasso’s Guernica – which was created in 1937 for the Spanish Pavilion of the World Expo in Paris. Because of the similarity in structure of the German Pavilion with Cubistic design, with its irregular arrangement of zigzagging, geometric boxes cut up and interweaving, Dr. Chen felt that the German Pavilion evoked the cubist composition of Guernica and had them arise together in this painting.

This kind of new architectural style which neglects the vertical axis and center point in favor of an asymmetrical diagonal structure seems to have become very fashionable, finding itself in quite a number of Pavilions at the Shanghai Expo. Germany’s gift for welldeveloped high-tech engineering is also presented as an “Energy Source” in the Pavilion, using technology to supply electric power for a city. It is pleasing to see how the German Pavilion promotes Love, Peace, Harmony, Green Energy, Nature and Anti-Terrorism; while using high-tech for a better life, and a better 21st Centuryout of the shadow of Guernica.