The Pavilion of Dreams, one of the biggest attractions at the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, will be closed temporarily from September for renovation, management said yesterday.
Since opening to the public in November 2010, the pavilion has attracted more than 910,000 visits by local and foreign visitors, according to the Taipei Expo Foundation, which has been running the pavilion since the expo ended.
To encourage more visits to the pavilion before it closes, the foundation is offering various promotions and guided tours to give the public insight into the construction process and technologies used in the pavilion.
The foundation will also hold a celebration, including an outdoor concert, on the last day — Aug. 31 — before the pavilion closes for renovation.
The pavilion, featuring naked-eye 3D technology, paper-thin speakers and interactive light designs — but no flowers — took more than 100 designers and engineers about 800 days to fully complete.
“There are certainly some secrets that visitors [can learn] when they join a general tour,” said Sung Yi-ping one of the foundation’s directors, adding that English tours are available with reservations. “The pavilion is scheduled to open to the public at the same location in July 2013 with other eye-opening features.”
Sung declined to give further details, saying the project should remain a surprise until next year.
In the current facility, visitors are invited to experience a journey of coexistence with the help of state-of-the-art technology developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Among the highlights is a film shown on a 360o screen inside a theater in the pavilion that takes the audience on a flight from a river full of lotuses to skies above Taiwan’s mountains that contain “cloud dolphins” jumping in the clouds.
The film also shows a forest and viewers are encouraged to help virtual trees grow by taking deep breaths at designated spots in the theater.
The pavilion first opened on Nov. 6, 2010, and closed on April 25 last year, in line with the flora expo. It was re-opened in late August last year in response to popular demand.
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