I happened to be one of the lucky 36 millions visitors to attend the 1992 World Expo in Seville, Spain.  I was 23 at the time and it rocked my world. The collective energy of all those countries together in celebration of the world was magical. The time to hold that special event will happen again in Shanghai China in just two short years. I’m tempted to buy my ticket now along with my carbon offsets. Philip?

As explained on designboom, “the world expo aims to promote the exchange of ideas and development of the world economy, culture, science and technology, giving exhibitors the opportunity to publicize their achievements and improve international relations.”

Love it. Congratulations to Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) - a Copenhagen based group of 85 architects, designers builders and thinkers– who have won the danish pavilion for Expo 2010,  “with their proposal of a loop, a velodrome and an interactive fairytale.” BIG (I imagine) are going to have fun creating and the visitors even more fun biking and walking around that loop.

In an effort raise awareness around sustainable urban alternatives in the growing traffic in Shanghai, the Danish Pavilion will offer its 1500 city bikes to visitors for the duration of the Expo. I’ll let designboom explain this interesting eco-fact: “Denmark’s polluted harbor activities have been replaced by harbor parks and cultural institutions, and the water is so pure you can swim in it, whereas in Shanghai the situation is not as perfect. For the Danish Pavilion, BIG’s aim was to try and bring the Danish approach and perspective to Shanghai. In the heart of the pavilion there will be a mermaid pool, filled with sea water from Copenhagen’s harbor and will allow Chinese guests to swim, feel and taste the water.” That’s so way cool. If they can do it, so can we. Here’s a sneak peak at BIG’s proposal for the pavilion:

Yep, that pool you see in the middle of the pavilion will be swimmable.