Rendering of the pavilion

Human life is the subject of humanity. The slogan “Precious Life” highlights the essence of the human-centered concept, whereas “Humanity without Borders” reflects the great influence of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies all over the world.

Peace, the unswerving pursuit of all mankind, is also a premise for urban development.

The two globally recognized emblems-Red Cross and Red Crescent-set on a white background have been served humanitarian actions for over a century.

The International Red Cross & Red Crescent Pavilion is located in Zone B of the Expo site, next to the Meteo World Pavilion and the UN Pavilion. The 500-square-meter rented pavilion, though not big in size, will be very powerful in conveying the theme embedded in the slogan “Precious Life, Humanity without Borders” and is in itself a call to action that aims to encourage people from all walks of life to engage in protecting our common world.

Visitors will be admitted into the pavilion in groups of 70 persons. It will take each group 15 minutes for the whole visit. The pavilion is estimated to receive about 700,000 visitors over the Expo period.

Tents—we are on site

The entrance of this pavilion is designed to be a white tent.

Tents are the most common items for disaster relief. They are always greatly needed in disaster relief operations.

The tent-structure of the pavilion sends a visual impact of being “on site” and “in action”. Before entering the pavilion, visitors will have been touched by the power of humanitarian actions.

While queuing up in front of the pavilion entrance, every visitor will be given a red bracelet which symbolizes “connecting both you and me”. As one of the logos of the pavilion, this bracelet also has other functions, which will be waiting for visitors to discover during their visit.

Interior rendering of the pavilion

Rendering of the “Corridor of Time and Space”

Long Corridor—transcending time and space

Upon entering the pavilion, everything gets dark.

This is the first part of the pavilion called, “Dark Memories”. It is a long and narrow “corridor of time and space”, featuring black color. On the right side of it, there are multimedia display screens of various sizes, depicting the major wars and periods grief since the Battle of Solferino in 1859. The room is shadowed in war and grief.

These historic scenes shown on the digital display screens behind the mirrored curtain wall will be interlaced with all kinds of reflections through the mirror, producing a fantastic visual effect. Feeling like being personally on the scene, visitors will be deeply moved by the sufferings of humanity through history.

The left side of the corridor has a rock texture. Five large posters are displayed here. They are introductions to five organizations: the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies, and the Red Cross Society of China.

After experiencing the shocking and miserable scenes of war, visitors come towards the end of the corridor, where a “gas curtain” appears. A scene is projected onto the curtain, showing people praying for a peaceful and beautiful life. The fine part of it is that visitors can go through this curtain. Their walking through this curtain represents mankind getting out of the darkness of war and grief, and welcoming the light of humanity.

Rendering of the “Circular-screen Cinema”

Rendering of the “Circular-screen Cinema”

Film—waiting for the light

Crossing the gas curtain, visitors come to a white room, the second part of the pavilion, “Light of Humanity”. A sentence engraved in the wall greets the eyes. It says, “After experiencing the darkness of wars and disasters, we are longing for the light of humanism.”

With this sentence in mind, visitors enter a “circular-screen cinema” with a screen measuring 15 meters long and 4 meters wide. A carefully edited film projected on it demonstrates the continued efforts and outstanding achievements of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in protecting the life, health, and dignity of human beings and in disaster relief actions. After watching the film, visitors will feel deeply moved and inspired by it.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement comprises 186 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, over 100 million member workers and volunteers, making it the world’s largest humanitarian movement with a long history.

The final scene of the film is a big photo comprising various images of volunteers of the movement. While visitors are still lost in thought and feeling deeply moved, the circular screen opens up in the middle and they walk out of the room through the images, looking as if they are walking into the large group of volunteers. Visitors are taken to the third part of the pavilion from here.

Theme Wall—taking action together

Coming into visitors’ view is a theme wall, with the final image from the film on display. The third part of the pavilion, “Your Move”, will have an interactive program inviting visitors’ participation. It will demonstrate the power of taking action together.

This is where the red bracelet comes into use. On the lower part of the theme wall, there are 4 cameras. Visitors only have to show their red bracelets for the cameras to catch their faces and the bracelets. The images taken will be transferred to the LCD screen on the theme wall in a real-time fashion. Images of volunteers, visitors are put together to create a dynamic theme wall. Visitors will have experienced a series of emotional change, from feeling touched, to feeling deeply moved and inspired, and to finally taking action. This is the end of the visit but only the beginning of more humanitarian efforts.

Rendering of the Theme Wall