MEETING BETWEEN CITY AND NATURE THE THEME OF GLOBAL PHOTO CONTEST ORGANISED BY SWECO AND MATTIAS KLUM

A city seen from a distance in a small opening between trees, by photographer Mattias Klum
April 27, 2010 | Press release

Sweco and Tierra Grande invite photographers from around the world to take part in the “City and Nature” photo contest to be held in connection with the World Expo in Shanghai. The winners will receive a trip to China and participation in a photo workshop led by Mattias Klum in the Swedish pavilion – which is decorated with his own nature photos in giant format.

The theme of the 2010 World Expo, “Better cities, better life”, is about how to achieve a better, safer and more sustainable urban life in the world’s fast-growing cities. Sweco has designed the Swedish pavilion, whose exterior walls show pictures of urban environments. The inner facades between the buildings feature a dense spruce forest in the form of Mattias Klum’s photos printed on enormous canvases.

Through the photo contest, the organisers hope to create an awareness of environmental issues in an urban environment.

“The challenge in the contest is to create an inspiring picture that shows how the city and nature interact and contribute to each other’s development. We need innovative and creative people to build a sustainable society, which is also one of the underlying ideas for our design of the pavilion,” says Rebecka Gunner, Head of Communication at Sweco Sweden.

The jury consists of Mattias Klum, Professor Bob Lee from Konstfack (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design), Annika Rembe, Sweden’s Commissioner General for Expo 2010, and Eva Nygren, President of Sweco Sweden.

Participants register at www.tierragrande.se/photocontest and may submit entries between 1 May and 24 June. The prize ceremony will be held in the Swedish pavilion on 16 September. The five winning entries will then have the chance to take part in a photo workshop together with Mattias Klum, where one assignment will be to document the Swedish pavilion. Selected contest entries and pictures from the photo workshop will also be exhibited at the Museum of Architecture in Stockholm during November.

Attached information

Anna Elisabeth Olsson

Head of Press and Public Affairs