Shanghai Expo 2010: Here are more photos of the just-completed UK Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010, designed by Thomas Heatherwick.
The pavilion is covered in 60,000 transparent rods, each containing seeds from the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK.
Shanghai Expo 2010 opens in May.
More Dezeen stories about this project:
Photos of Thomas Heatherwick’s UK Pavilion (March 2010)
Images of updated design for pavilion (June 2009)
Thomas Heatherwick wins UK Pavilion design competition (September 2007)
See a short movie about the project on YouTube.
Here’s some info from UK Trade & Investment:
UK unveils images of acclaimed Pavilion at Shanghai Expo
With just one month to go until the opening of Shanghai Expo 2010, the largest Expo ever held, the UK is releasing exclusive images of its acclaimed Pavilion.
Sir Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the senior official responsible for the UK’s contribution to Shanghai Expo, said: “The UK Pavilion is already one of Expo’s star attractions. It has not only generated huge interest in China – and a nickname, the ‘Dandelion’, a Chinese good luck symbol – but photos of this extraordinary building have been used from LA to Lisbon and from Caracus to Calcutta as the defining image of Shanghai Expo.
“China, one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in the world, will be central to the UK’s economic future. The ground-breaking design of the UK Pavilion is helping to overcome images of the UK as a land of swirling fog and cobblestones. Amidst over 230 pavilions jostling for attention, the UK Pavilion stands out.”
Seventy million people are expected to visit Shanghai Expo, which opens to the public on 1 May for six months. Many millions are expected to visit the UK Pavilion alone.
The theme of Shanghai Expo is “Better City, Better Life”. This inspired British designer Thomas Heatherwick to use the UK’s expertise in urban planning to create a unique and open space. Instead of creating a building covering the entire football pitch-sized site, he created a park in which people could relax in one of the world’s busiest urban spaces.
Thomas Heatherwick said: “It has been a tremendous achievement of the team to deliver such a complex structure. I am excited that the Seed Cathedral is now complete and I look forward to the millions of visitors to the Expo enjoying the space.”
The Seed Cathedral sits in the centre of the UK Pavilion’s site, 20 metres in height, formed from 60,000 slender transparent rods, each 7.5 metres long and each encasing one or more seeds at its tip. During the day, they act as optic fibres and draw daylight inwards to illuminate the interior. At night, light sources inside each rod allow the whole structure to glow. As the wind moves past, the building and its optic “hairs” gently move to create a dynamic effect. The seeds have been sourced from China’s Kunming Institute of Botany, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership.
Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew said: “We are delighted to be involved in the UK Pavilion – especially as 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Seeds stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in the UK, and in our partners’ seed banks around the world, have the potential to enable human innovation, adaptation and resilience; helping current and future generations to lead better lives.”
Simon Featherstone, project director of the UK’s presence at Shanghai Expo, said: “As we approach the opening of Shanghai Expo, one can sense a real excitement about the UK Pavilion, which is now substantially ready. The Pavilion is looking stunning, particularly inside the Seed Cathedral. We can be proud that the UK has chosen a design which is so striking and unique. Our team of hosts, performers and event managers is now in place and eager to give our visitors a warm British welcome.”
There will be a major programme of business events organised and over 1,000 business meetings designed to introduce to Chinese investors and businesses the benefits of doing business with the UK.
There is also an extensive programme of cultural and education activities over the 184 days of Expo. There will be street theatre-style entertainment around the UK Pavilion, and installations on the theme of “nature and the city,” covering the importance of green spaces in UK cities and its rich architectural tradition. Other activities will take place around China and online at www.ukshanghaiexpo.com .
The British Council is a founder sponsor of the pavilion and coordinating the cultural programme. Leigh Gibson, Director for Content and Programme for UK Expo, said:
“Shanghai Expo will demonstrate the UK’s creativity and innovation on the international stage. The UK’s programme of events on the UK’s Pavilion site, in the Expo Park, around Shanghai, throughout China and online will reflect the UK’s regional and national excellence and diversity in arts, business, culture, sports, science and education.”
The UK Government has worked with private sector sponsors on the Expo. They are BP, Diageo, GKN, Barclays and AstraZeneca.
Factfile
• China is forecast to become the world’s second largest economy in 2010.
• The UK is the largest recipient of Chinese investment in Europe and China is the UK’s fastest growing export market.
• The Chinese Government’s $55 billion investment in infrastructure for Shanghai Expo is more than double the cost of the Beijing Olympics.
• The rods in the UK Pavilion at Shanghai Expo will be recycled and distributed to schools across China and in the UK, and to Kew and its Chinese partners.
• The UK, the sixth biggest manufacturer in the world, has the largest industries in Europe for creative industries, life sciences, financial services and ICT.
• With four out of six of the world’s top universities, the UK is the largest recipient of R&D investment in Europe, and has won more Nobel prizes than any other country in Europe.
April 4th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
This is incredible. I just can’t get enough of it.
April 4th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Amazing !
Overwhelming interior.looks like the inside of a star wars ship.
should be a good competetion for BIG’s Danish pavillion.
April 4th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
he did it!,,, great project, great execution!
congratulations
April 4th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
April 4th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
UK pride
April 4th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
absolutely amazing!!! Pure genius
April 4th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
This is absolutely incredible-one of the most exciting projects I’ve seen in a while. I’m booking my ticket to Shanghai right now…
April 4th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
incredible presentation of imagination
love it!
April 4th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Heh, it’s a bit Yoshioka-like, isn’t it?
April 4th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
F****** unbelievable. Execution of his creativity gives me shivers.
April 4th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
It’s a great design and achievement. Love it!!! Kudos to Thomas Heatherwick and his team. Cheers!
April 4th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Love it!
Don’t recycle it. Take it to London, or anywhere in the UK. Keep it built.
April 4th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Does anybody know what happens to the pavilions after the various expo’s?
April 4th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Wonderful concept
April 4th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
so many elements in such large scale, from out side seems like hair to me. Marvelous interior space.. I wish I can visit it.
Great work!
April 4th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
yes, DCV, please can we have it back at the end of the expo but not just ‘anywhere in the UK’….. it must replace the god awful piece of shite known as the orbit.
April 4th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL. Really Gorgeous, this makes me feel like an amature.
April 4th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
lets hope this one doesnt fall apart like the first version of this did (made it out of ply wood) or the ‘b of the bang’, or the…
April 5th, 2010 at 12:38 am
soo crazy
April 5th, 2010 at 1:18 am
im not buying the seeds at the end of the rods. but the pavilion is absolutely astonishing. great seeing this project come to fruition.
April 5th, 2010 at 2:34 am
Why doesn’t Boris Johnson bring this pavilion back to London to replace the appalling ‘Orbit’? I can’t believe there is a single person who looks at the ‘Orbit’ as anything but a ridiculous squander of resources. The 2012 Olympics deserve the level of care and inventiveness displayed in the Heatherwick pavilion!
April 5th, 2010 at 3:33 am
Heatherwick triumphs again!
April 5th, 2010 at 7:21 am
Amazing clever and functional. Love it ! Heatherwick s done it again after longchamp ;)
April 5th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Very cool. And original! Just how good design should be.
April 5th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Expo Playground.
What do you expect?
Can’t get that exited about all those design objects.
Anything goes, and ends.
April 5th, 2010 at 9:40 am
going to be messy in the middles… haha
April 5th, 2010 at 9:41 am
it is not just one piece of brilliant design but i love the fact that Thomas Heatherwick keeps on pushing the boundaries. not all his designs always work but it shows that he is not afraid to experiment and his thinking sometimes one generation ahead!
can’t wait to go nd see it!
April 5th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Great WEIRD spectacular fantastic creation in this planet!
April 5th, 2010 at 10:42 am
room: 1433
April 5th, 2010 at 10:54 am
And that is architecture!
Space, art, technique in motion!
To live and experience
A good concept!
April 5th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Ma3alem!!!
April 5th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
In arabic means a master!
April 5th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
absolutely amazing!!!
April 5th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Fantastic
April 5th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Love it!!!
April 5th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
it looks realy realy good, one of the best or even the best one on this year expo
April 5th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
paul,
it stands there till the end of days
April 5th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Can this be moved to the Olympic park afterwards instead of the ‘colon’.
April 5th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
this is so fantastic!!
(where) can we get bigger images?
April 5th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
he repeated his scottish sitoorie
April 6th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Apart from the obvious fact that this is a truly beautiful building – one can only be humbled by the equally beautiful thought process that led to it’s conception
April 6th, 2010 at 12:38 am
didnt like heatherwick before – heatherwick impresses with this one – so appropriate and affectual
April 6th, 2010 at 3:24 am
that’s great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 6th, 2010 at 4:11 am
its amazing!
Now I wander how we can make architecture look like this?
April 6th, 2010 at 6:19 am
Freakin’ Awesome!!
April 6th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
amazing. this is only thing i can say.
April 6th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
This is an amazing project. I can’t stop being enthralled by it. I just hope that, unlike some Heatherwick’s designs, this one can last for a long time.
April 6th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
This really is something else. I wish that we’d see buildings of of this level of imagination in the US. Truly is breathtaking.
April 6th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
To all English Nationals,
I think you should start a PETITION to replace the Orbit with this Pavilion.
C
April 6th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Incredible….!!
April 7th, 2010 at 12:47 am
I would definitely sign that petition. It makes great sense, a pavilion for visitors to 2012 to escape the rain(!) Much more elegant than the steelworks of Kapoor, although I thoroughly enjoyed the RA show last year.
April 7th, 2010 at 12:48 am
And dont forget the engineers who made all of this possible . . . AKT http://www.akt-uk.com . . .
April 7th, 2010 at 1:58 am
would love to see some details of how these fibers interact with its shell.
April 7th, 2010 at 8:57 am
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115915775089848
Petition, join your voices people!
April 7th, 2010 at 10:12 am
surely Thomas deserves a prize for this .
one can ‘ t help beeing sad that in the uk , what we get is this monster arcelormittal thing .
April 7th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
WE CZECH REPUBLIC DID THE SAME IN YEAR 2005 ON EXPO IN JAPAN. I LIKE OPTIC FIBERS BY UK. BUT FORM OF FACADE HAS BEEN COPIED A LOT BY US AND ARCH. BARA SKORPILOVA WHO HAS DESIGNED IT.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Czech_pavillion_fa%C3%A7ade_Expo_2005.jpg
here is the picture of it from year 2005
April 7th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
@Tomas Legner to be more accurate, I believe Heatherwick has copied himself, rather, evolved his own idea into something more relevant.
http://www.packmanlucas.com/projectSheet_3324.asp
This design predates the Czech pavilion by a good 5 years.
In this case (if it is at all relevant in the first place), your Arch.Bara Skorpilova has copied Heatherwick.
Ahem.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
@ian spat :
well spotted .
Heatherwick is way too clever and talented to give in to mere copy .
April 9th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
i wish we could have more good surprises like this about the other pavillions…
April 16th, 2010 at 10:16 am
absolutely lovely
April 28th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
the most intrestin pavillion…. the concept is great….Heatherwick has his own style …..and it is awesome.
April 28th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZycN4Zu7qK4
i love the way he thinks …and the concept is amazinn…
April 29th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Awe inspiring – in a realm of its own
May 1st, 2010 at 6:45 pm
At last something from the future!!