Abstract
This project proposes an exhibition for World Expo 2025 where
participants from around the world are invited to design a
pavilion that poses questions and reflections on The Expo’s
title theme Reinterpreting the Unintentional Landscapes of
Man.1 The purpose of this exposition is to question what the
role of architecture is in transforming global waste cultures.
The event unfolds over six months and is located on the site
of the old Durban International Airport in Kwazulu-Natal,
South Africa. The site has been elected by local government
for the construction of the Durban Dig-Out Port, a secondary
port that is planned to be constructed in order to deal with
rising demands of incoming cargo at Durban harbor. The
new port’s construction has been halted until further review
in 2030 and the expo is planned to take occupation of this
site-in-transformation from 2025. In this project, the design
of World Expo 2025 acknowledges the historical legacy of
world expos and adopts similar strategies for the creation
of a curated landscape inhabited by multiple key pavilions
that extend the central question of the expo. The temporary
pavilion model is used in this project as a means to challenge
pre-conceived ideas of what an architectural object ought
to be and makes suggestions of what architecture could
possibly be, beyond the simplistic interpretation of applying
waste as building material. What does architecture mean
in this time of intense consumption and disposal? What
portion of our current reality is propped up by its own
referential image, masking the true reality of irresponsible...
M.Tech. (Architecture)