The Australia Pavilion, with it's bright 'AUSTRALIA' letters at each Exit and Entrance, and location just in front of the Expo's most popular day and night rendezvous - the 88-metre high symbol tower and light-beacon of the Exposition - 'Night Companion' - was one of the most striking  and memorable Pavilions of the Expo site - popularly voted as one of the 'Top 5' Pavilions at the Expo - and at $AUD 18 million - the Expo's largest Pavilion. 

The roof of the Pavilion, easily recognizable from afar, was designed to closely follow the contours and the many brilliant sunrise/sunset colours of the Great Dividing Range west of Brisbane... the imaginatively designed contoured roof also provided VIP seating for the nightly entertainment at the Exposition's large performance venue - the 'River Stage'  - located at the Pavilion's eastern flank - giving Pavilion and Expo Authority VIPs the 'best seats of the house' for theatre, music, and the popular nightly music, laser and fireworks displays.

The two sets of AUSTRALIA letters commissioned for the Australia Pavilion at Expo - fondly remembered as one of the outstanding icons of World Expo '88 - were one of the most photographed art works at the Expo - where proud Bicentennial Australians - and visitors - queued to have their photograph taken with them. At some 2 metres high per letter - in vertically 'stacked' groups of three letters at the Entrance to the Pavilion, and in a long single line of letters at the VIP Entrance/Pavilion Exit - much larger - at 5.3 metres high per letter, the themed letters were designed by internationally-renowned Australian artist/designer Mr Ken Done, and in their bright rendition of the Australian sun, indigenous Australia, tropical palms and the Southern Cross, represented a new proud Australia at the height of the Bicentennial Celebrations.

And this was just the start. Inside the Pavilion guests engaged with the millenia-old stories of the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime in the Rainbow Serpent Theatre - using spectacular traditional theatre and multimedia display technology - where the legend of the Rainbow Serpent was narrated to the theatrette audience by an Australian Aboriginal Elder, from the midst of an imaginary Australian outback red earth desert camp fire, with an Australian night sky in the background.

The next part of the Pavilion featured the Rainbow Sphere - an ever-changing luminescent kaleidoscope, prettily echoing the colours of modern day country and urban Australia - where above and nearby various static displays of aeronautics, sailing craft and solar-powered vehicles, and a humourous 3-metre high sports robot 'Blue' randomly gave out statistics about Australian leisure. 

The Australia Pavilion is also remembered for the cordial friendly pavilion staff, sourced from all over Australia, whose bright colourful uniforms, designed by leading Australian Fashion designer Prue Acton, further developed the Pavilion's Ken Done AUSTRALIA letters theme.

Visit the Ken Done website
Visit the Prue Acton Website
Visit the Powerhouse Museum Sydney listing for Ken Done
Visit the Australian Government website