Kazakhstan | EXPO 2017

ACTAHA – which simply means capital in Russian – was the destination of this year’s training programme. Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is located around 5.100 kilometres east of Stuttgart.
The city in the middle of the Kazakh steppe was only declared the capital in 1997. With just under 900,000 Einhabitants, the city is constantly growing. Skyscrapers shoot up from the ground into the sky like mushrooms at every crossroads.
We set off on Wednesday. We travelled non-stop from Stuttgart via Frankfurt to Astana. When we arrived on Thursday morning, we first went in search of a café to have breakfast. Before that, we took our luggage to the very basic but clean hostel. Immediately afterwards we went to our real reason for travelling so far – the Expo, also known as the World Expo. The theme of the exhibition was “Future Energy” and everything centred on how we need to change and shape our future in order to limit climate change and curb our constant hunger for energy. The Expo site was specially developed for this purpose. In the centre stands the 100 metre high glass sphere, in which the host country shows its high-tech side. All the other countries also showed in fascinating pavilions how they will deal with the topic of energy in the future. We spent two full days gathering information, inspiration and lots of new ideas. All the shows, projections and architecture were highlights for us that we might be able to incorporate into our scenography work.
On day 3, we were given a guided tour of the entire capital by a very friendly young lady for 7 hours. Passing magnificent buildings, we learnt all about the modern city. The mixture of Russian, Asian and European influences inspired us all. From the largest mosque in Central Asia to the futuristic architecture of English star architect Norman Foster, we were able to marvel at everything. We didn't miss out on any culinary delights either and were taken to a traditional Kazakh restaurant in the centre of the capital. From here, we were able to get an idea of the size of the city.
Unfortunately, the training was over far too quickly, so we were back at the airport on Sunday and after a flight of just under 6 hours we were back in Frankfurt.
Now, fuelled with fresh impressions, we can get back to work together as a team on new projects.

Marlon Köhn