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UK Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010
The United Kingdom pavilion: Seed Cathedral
60,000 fiber optic cables stick out of British pavilion which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The pavilion has been nicknamed locally as ‘Pu Gong Ying’, Chinese for ‘The Dandelion’ due to its unusual appearance. During the day, the rods direct light to the interior while at night the whole thing will glow like a kitsch artifact from the 1980s. Inside, thousands of seeds from the Millennium Seed Project will be on display, causing the whole thing to have been dubbed the “Seed Cathedral,” though some say it looks like a scared hedgehog. After the World Expo Shanghai, most of the materials of the UK Pavilion will be reused or recycled and the seeds will be planted around China.
Lead Designer: Heatherwick Studio
Project team: Thomas Heatherwick, Katerina Dionysopoulou, Robert Wilson, Peter Ayres, Stuart Wood, Ingrid Hu, Jaroslav Hulin, Chiara Ferrari and Ramona Becker
Key Construction Materials: steel and timber composite structure, 60,000 fiber optic filaments, aluminum sleeves
Optic fibers: 60,588
Optic fibers length: 7.5 meters
Seeds in Seed Cathedral: 217,300
Source of Seeds: China’s Kunming Institute of Botany, a partner in Kew Royal Botanic Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank Project.
Award: 2010 International Awards by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
UK Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010
The United Kingdom pavilion: Seed Cathedral
60,000 fiber optic cables stick out of British pavilion which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The pavilion has been nicknamed locally as ‘Pu Gong Ying’, Chinese for ‘The Dandelion’ due to its unusual appearance. During the day, the rods direct light to the interior while at night the whole thing will glow like a kitsch artifact from the 1980s. Inside, thousands of seeds from the Millennium Seed Project will be on display, causing the whole thing to have been dubbed the “Seed Cathedral,” though some say it looks like a scared hedgehog. After the World Expo Shanghai, most of the materials of the UK Pavilion will be reused or recycled and the seeds will be planted around China.
Lead Designer: Heatherwick Studio
Project team: Thomas Heatherwick, Katerina Dionysopoulou, Robert Wilson, Peter Ayres, Stuart Wood, Ingrid Hu, Jaroslav Hulin, Chiara Ferrari and Ramona Becker
Key Construction Materials: steel and timber composite structure, 60,000 fiber optic filaments, aluminum sleeves
Optic fibers: 60,588
Optic fibers length: 7.5 meters
Seeds in Seed Cathedral: 217,300
Source of Seeds: China’s Kunming Institute of Botany, a partner in Kew Royal Botanic Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank Project.
Award: 2010 International Awards by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)