ISIE Best Practices in Exposition Design Workshop
Best Design Practices for International Expositions: Past and Present
Paris, France
March 19–20, 2026
The Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE) convened its Best Practices in Exposition Design Workshop on March 19–20, 2026, at the Serbian Cultural Center in Paris, bringing together a specialized cohort of global Expo scholars and practitioners.
Organizing teams from three upcoming World Expos — Expo 2027 Belgrade, Expo 2030, and Expo 2031 — joined academics and technical experts in architecture and design, exhibition and experience, and operations and management for two days of presentations and discussion. Opening remarks came from Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), alongside ISIE leadership, underscoring the need to consolidate and share a body of Expo design knowledge that today remains fragmented across disciplines.
The workshop's goal was to begin shaping a shared resource on Expo design practices — one that captures both successful solutions and hard-won lessons, so future organizers can build on what's come before rather than starting from scratch each time.
Six Core Themes
Discussions surfaced six interconnected themes now shaping the future of Expo design:
Human-Centered Experience. Success should be measured by emotional engagement and connection, not just visitor counts — shifting from passive viewing to active, participatory experience.
From Storytelling to Story Living. Expos should move beyond information delivery toward immersive, authentic expression, letting nations and individuals tell their own stories rather than fit a standardized template.
Inclusion and Meaningful Participation. Accessibility and belonging should be built into design from the outset — for all cultures, abilities, backgrounds, and generations — with visitors treated as contributors, not just an audience.
Integration Across Design, Operations, and Strategy. Breaking down silos between design, operations, and strategy from day one prevents costly retrofitting and builds institutional knowledge that can carry from one Expo to the next.
Legacy Beyond the Physical. The most durable Expo legacy is often relationships and ideas, not infrastructure — legacy should be designed alongside the visitor experience, not treated as an afterthought.
Clarity of Purpose and Shared Understanding. Expos need a clearer, shared answer to "why" — one that organizers, participants, and visitors can all rally around.
Participants also surfaced productive tensions that will continue to shape the field: architecture versus experience, national identity versus global collaboration, and the role of AI as a tool for accessibility versus a risk to authenticity.
Looking Ahead
The workshop marked a step toward ISIE's broader goal: establishing itself as a central knowledge space for the Expo ecosystem, with plans for a nonprofit structure, a multi-modal knowledge-sharing toolbox, and continued gatherings that build on this work at future Expos.
The full Outcome Report includes detailed recommendations, examples, and reflections from each session, alongside the complete list of contributors and presenters.
Acknowledgements
This report was prepared by Lisa Schrenk, Federica Busa, César Corona, Toby Shulruff, and Danilo Dangubić, with contributions from César Corona, Allison DeLeone, Sawyer Franz, Christian Lachel, Wendy Meadley, Charles Pappas, Dina Storey, and Shifa Zghoul.
ISIE thanks the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for its support, and the Serbian Cultural Center in Paris for hosting the event. ISIE also thanks Patrice Ballester for his support of the workshop.
Presenters included: Ahmed Bukhash, Federica Busa, Mina Chow, Nicholas Cull, Danilo Dangubić, Allison DeLeone, Peter Feldmann, Sawyer Franz, Christian Lachel, Sarah Manning, Wendy Meadley, Steven Mifsud, Jakša Nikodijević, Beverly Payeff-Masey, Uroš Ranković, Michele Salgarello, Toby Shulruff, Dina Storey, and Shifa Zghoul.