The Rendezvous Plaza includes a market store and a restaurant of the Chilean Pavilion in the Expo Shanghai 2010. This is the area in the Pavilion that was created to exhibit and sell items that represent the handicrafts and food products of Chile. The Rendezvous Plaza, between the store and the restaurant, takes up 20% of the Pavilion´s surface area.
BOUTIQUE
The boutique items are displayed on two large “trees”, one that holds handicrafts and one to exhibit the beverages. The trees are built of structures made of copper and wood. The products are the “fruits” of Chile and easily picked by the Pavilion´s visitors. The shopping experience is designed to simulate that of a market place.
The selection of products sold in the boutique was defined according to a style that one, reflects our identity and two, presents an attractive offer to shoppers in Shanghai. This style is elegant, ethnic, and urban. In order to select products that would reflect this style, we focused on the natural state of each material used in the product. The products that were eventually chosen each reflect the artisan´s choice to leave things according to their natural color. This simplicity – that of things in themselves as they have always been – coincides with certain tendencies in fashion and good taste, ones that require fine products of great quality. We hope to compete with Chinese products, not only by quality but also by pricing.
The market store offers a selection of 230 products distributed in 4 main categories:
1º Handicrafts that are native and urban: includes textiles made from alpaca and sheep wool; jewelry made of lapis lazuli, copper, horsehair, and Mapuche replicas; wooden articles, including bowls, carved items, and toys; and musical instruments including the ocarina, water stick, and the Andean flute.
2º Flavors: olive oils; avocado oil; merquén (Mapuche chile spice); abalone; King Crab; salmon; fruit and wine jams; and dried fruits.
3º Alcohols: Wine and Pisco. Wine is offered in three varieties, including premium, reserve, and varietal and represents 40 vineyards. Pisco comes in four varieties – pisco sour, pisco cocktail with mango juice and piña colada; triple distillation; and aged.
4º Souvenirs: Books, postage stamps, pins, keychain, t-shirts, music CD, among other things.
THE EATERY
Inside this space, visitors can taste our flavors and experience traditional aromas by sampling tasty morsels in the style of a cocktail reception, an arrangement chosen to facilitate the encounter between the Chinese culture and the Chilean one. The daily act of eating, in this sense, becomes a celebration; an encounter in passing is accompanied by eating and drinking and the spontaneous toast to health and “campei”. A special tray was designed to hold the food and beverage.
The set-up for this eatery consists of 2 counters facing each other, one designated to serve food and the other, beverages. Two concepts are offered as meals; one is a land-based meal and the other comes from the sea – with meat or sea food on a skewer, a fried or baked meat or seafood pastie, and a beef or fish sandwich, all served with natural fruit juice, wine or pisco. The counter of the beverages offers wine by the glass in 3 varieties of the day in varietal, reserve and Premium options. A variety of pisco beverages are offered including pisco sour, mango or piña colada cocktail, and aged pisco. Finally, fruit juices and fruit sorbets are offered to complement the dinner.
All the products of the Market are displayed in packaging that enhances their appeal. The design of the image of this zone suggests an identity contained in the very material with which the products are made. The design of this zone suggests an identity akin to the skin of Chile – one that is contained in the very material with which the products are made. The bag in which purchased items are placed is branded with the logo of the Pavilion.
The creation of this project, the commercial model, the artistic selection of products, interior design, graphic design and packaging as well as the operational model – all were carried out by the company Arbol de Color.