As a teenager growing up in rural Lower Saxony, Germany, I had the opportunity to perform with the percussion ensemble of the local music school at the “Expo 2000” world’s fair in Hanover. I still have a vague memory of the exciting atmosphere, the sprawling grounds, and the international vibe of the event, which was shaped in no small part by the architecture of the pavilions. On the one hand, some of these structures looked extremely modern and technologically advanced; on the other hand, there was something doll-like about them and—taken as a whole—something deeply folkloric, much like a circus or a fairground.

What I definitely still remember is the curved Japanese pavilion made entirely of paper, and, of course, the spectacular Dutch pavilion by MVRDV: a tower-like, layered landscape symbolizing the specific characteristics of the country, with—at the time—avant-garde wind turbines on the roof and an endless line of visitors stretching out in front of the entrance.

Looking back, “Expo 2000” was a high point of enthusiasm in the post-Cold War era. It was the time of “globalization” and “global village” (almost none of my bandmates had a cell phone). In architecture, following the era of classical CAD, the hype surrounding the “Blob” took hold. The myth of “digital architecture” was in its formative years.

Eight years later, in 2008, I visited the Expo grounds again and took (analog) photos. The millennium euphoria had long since faded, and the site looked like a ghost town after the gold rush. Some pavilions had been repurposed. Quite a few others stood empty, boarded up, and visibly falling into disrepair—the Dutch pavilion being particularly striking. Instead of the exciting international flair, the site was dominated by the melancholic atmosphere of a desolate industrial park. A lesson, as it were, in the transience not only of an architecture exhibition.

The Spanish pavilion was destroyed by fire in 2016. The Lithuanian pavilion was demolished in 2024. Instead, the Dutch pavilion is currently undergoing renovation. Overall, the transformation of the entire site is still ongoing.

fh.