Kyoto to demolish 1 billion Yen EXPO 92 relic

The Danish Pavilion built for EXPO 92 in Seville and relocated to Japan in 1993 may be demolished early this year.

The pavilion was designed by Knud Holscher of KHR Architects AS and Erik Reitzel and debuted in Spain in 1992.  The town of Tanba (now part of Kyotamba town) purchased the building for approximately 1 billion Yen (about 9 million USD at the time) as a symbol for cultural exchange between the two countries. It was shifted to Tanba to a site that the then-mayor was planning to convert into the Kyoto Denmark Park. The ambitious project was considered ground-breaking but quickly turned into a white elephant.  The plans never eventuated after the mayor was caught up in a corruption scandal. The following economic malaise of the 1990s sealed the project's fate. Read more