Location: National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China
Function: Exhibition Hall
GFA: 120 m²
Interactive Design, Digital Solutions: DeTao Group
Client: The Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Finance
Design Concept: “Wheat Melody”
The Serbia National Pavilion at the 2025 China International Import Expo celebrates the timeless cultural and agricultural bond between Serbia and China through a poetic concept titled “Wheat Melody.”
The pavilion intertwines architecture, sensory design, and digital interaction to create a multi-sensory narrative about identity, nature, and shared traditions — connecting taste, sound, and collective craftsmanship.
The architectural language draws inspiration from the ancient Serbian “Sojenica” house, a vernacular dwelling with elevated floors used for safety and food storage — a typology also found in traditional Chinese wooden architecture. This connection becomes a metaphorical bridge between the two nations. The pavilion’s rammed-earth façade, elevated above a layer of real wheat, symbolizes Serbia’s agricultural heritage and its most essential ingredient — the golden grain. Beneath the structure, wheat fields blend with glowing tubes in natural tones, evoking both earth and light. The exterior setback forms a “coffee porch” — a welcoming threshold where visitors pause, observe, and reflect, embodying the Serbian spirit of hospitality.
Spatial Experience
Visitors first encounter a transitional corridor, where the rammed-earth wall runs parallel to a sixmeter-high rope installation in the vivid colors of the Expo 2027 Belgrade identity, themed “Playfor Humanity.” then they engage with touchscreen displays, discovering their personalized “Serbian Profile” — a playful digital journey blending psychology, geography, and gastronomy.
This interactive layer seamlessly merges spatial design with experiential branding. The corridor operates as a symbolic passage — half museum, half playground — featuring window displays embedded within the façade that project archival footage of Serbian games, festivals, and folklore, glimpses of the “Play” theme of the upcoming Expo 2027.
The atmosphere gradually shifts: from a dimly lit, intimate introduction into a bright, open central hall — a contrast between earth and light, enclosure and openness.
Interior: “Taste Your Destination”
At the heart of the pavilion stands the interactive tasting station “Taste Your Destination”, designed as a sculptural centerpiece combining soil, steel, and wheat.
The installation resembles both a bar and altar, crowned with polished metal tubes that descend like inverted stalks of wheat. Hidden speakers within the structure emit gentle soundscapes of Serbian folk music, creating an immersive environment that appeals to both emotion and curiosity.
