European Community - Expo Osaka 1970
"Imagination for peace", in other words, how a new Europe, uniting and cooperating for peaceful purposes, replaces the perpetual conflicts between states, is the main theme of the European Community pavilion.
The pavilion concept is quite remarkable. For the building, an underground and entirely horizontal part in its broad lines, a vertical, 24-metre "structure of light" is integrated, while its roof garden is adorned with a large panel of painted ceramics.
The European Community consists of six countries: the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The exhibition shows their evolution in a simple and concrete way both in terms of the main stages of European history up to the Second World War and the objectives and achievements of the European Community since its creation.
É Upon entering the pavilion, the visitor is surrounded by a representation of 2000 years of European civilisation, starting with its origins in the empires of Greece and Rome. It ends with the two world wars and the first attempts at European unification, which brought with them the establishment of the European Community.
The visitor learns about the European Community, its brand new mode of cooperation, and how economic borders are gradually disappearing.
Before leaving the pavilion, the visitor is introduced to an audio-visual presentation, lasting about eight minutes, which, using quite different means from illustration, summarises the main topics within the exhibition. A film on a large screen combined with 17 series of transparencies (2000 photos in total), forms a kind of "ballet" that completely absorbs the visitor's attention.