Pacific Islands Pavilion

The pavilion functions as an environmental and navigable attraction. The facade is an invitation to dive into the ocean, reproduced in a curtain of translucent bangs that sway gently in the wind. After crossing the threshold, visitors find themselves in a lobby where the five participating countries are located and where instructions are given on how to navigate the pavilion through a form of navigation called wayfinding, guided by the natural elements and typically used by the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands.

Visitors then enter a space that recreates the sea under a starry sky. In the background, a large celestial body alternates between the sun and the moon. The lighting reproduces night and day in a single space surrounded by a distant horizon that separates the sky and the sea. In the interior, curtains with translucent bangs unite what separates the horizon, as in a humid oceanic atmosphere.

In the sea, five islands are enveloped by curtains seven meters high. A tactile element on the pavement indicates how to reach them. The five sites can be perceived as islands, as a mass of lush vegetation and as a cluster of rain huts. On the perimeter walls hang a series of mirrors that multiply the firmament and the reflection of the sun in the translucent bangs of the curtains, while creating the effect of a vast ocean dotted with islands.

The islands themselves are dedicated to some of the typical themes of the life and culture of the Pacific Islanders: the kava, a drink associated with an ancestral ritual; the outrigger canoe, which they have used to navigate the Pacific since time immemorial; the coral reefs; the tales, myths and legends that form the basis of their rich oral tradition; and some of the videos, posted on Youtube, of the inhabitants telling their stories today.

The pavilion walls display a variety of examples related to the water culture of each of the participating countries: Tofua Island's volcanic crater in Tonga, an extraordinary natural container for collecting rainwater; ancient Lake Siwi on the ashes of Mount Yasur volcano in Vanuatu; the recent relocation of the capital of Palau to Babeldaob Island on the shores of Lake Ngardok; the freshwater ponds of East Timor's rice plantations; and the tranquil waters of Marovo Lagoon in the Solomon Islands, which as a breeding ground for five different languages illustrates the rich diversity of the Pacific Islands.