Concept
In 1976, Centre Pompidou in Paris, designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, turned the building inside out and made utility ductworks a part of the expression of the architectural exterior. It was an unprecedented argument about the increasing importance of technology in the living environment and made a significant breakthrough in the field of architecture.
In 2010, we have gone through a long period of rapid technological advancement and the amount of infrastructure in a building has dramatically increased to the point that technologies are today’s basic building blocks. For Shanghai Corporate Pavilion at the World Expo 2010, we would like to manifest this observation and celebrate the Shanghai industries through showcasing technological progress in our design: the building takes the form of a dense block of recyclable thin (5 cm in diameter) polycarbonate (PC) tubes with the interior spaces that are shaped as a series of free, flowing objects nestled within. The scaffolding of infrastructure includes a network of LED lights that are capable of changing the appearance of the building from one moment to another as programmed through a computer, a solar energy harvesting system, rain water collecting and mist spraying mechanism that will cool off the queuing area.
However, our design does not embrace technology for technology’s sake and beyond practical applications in a building that in itself is an exhibition. Rather, we intend to convey visually the spirit of the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion – the dream of a brighter future, through sophisticated technologies. Technology is about the enrichment of imagination and symbolic of the industrialism of Shanghai as a modern city. The dynamic “face changing” on the exterior of the pavilion as the result of 3D LED lights display dramatizes the vitality of the development in the Shanghai region. Also through technologies of solar energy, recycled material and water, we like to address the pressing issues of energy, environment and sustainability. We shall not achieve “Better City, Better Life” if these concerns will not be resolved. As a matter of fact, the World Expo is in a way about education. One should not take this year’s Shanghai theme lightly. Behind the generic sounding slogan is the serious question of livability, which has been ignored by Chinese urbanization in the past three decades. The city has been a tool for economic development but no more. At long last and in very recent years, the quality of urban life has appeared on the national agenda in China. Livability also brings on board sustainability: to live healthily and comfortably, we simply cannot continue to pollute our air and water and emit all the carbons to turn our cities into ovens.
In the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion design, we also lift the entire building up to create a shaded urban square underneath so that the Expo grounds continue through the building with the visitors flow. The shade along with the mist spray shall make the waiting outside more comfortable and send out the message that design is about improving the living conditions for people.
The World Expo is always a window to the future. Shanghai, as a historically progressive yet still fast moving international metropolis, has been all along the embodiment of this forward-looking optimism. As architects, we take the special occasion offered by the World Expo 2010 to solute Shanghai, a great city of the 21st Century, through design.
Environmental technology designs
1) Solar energy system
The Shanghai Corporate Pavilion features 1600 m2 of solar heat-collecting tubes on the roof. These tubes can collect solar energy to produce hot water up to 95°C. Ultra-low temperature power generation technology, a new, more efficient and more economic way to generate electricity through solar power than conventional photovoltaic, is deployed.
2) Recycled plastic materials
Shanghai produces nearly 30 million of waste compact disks (CDs) every year, and only 25% of them are reclaimed and recycled. If these CDs were reclaimed and cleaned, they could be used to produce polycarbonate granules and manufacture more polycarbonate plastic products. The primary external facade material of the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion is polycarbonate transparent plastic tubes. After the Expo, plastic tubes can again be easily recycled to reduce social wastage.
3) Water/mist system
For the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, rainwater is collected and recycled. After such treatments as sedimentation, filtration and storage, rainwater can be used for daily purposes at the Pavilion and for the mist spray in particular. The mist can lower the temperature, purify the air and create a comfortable micro-climate around the Pavilion. The spray can also be used to form various patterns under the ceiling of the lifted volume of the building and make the overall appearance of the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion more theatrical.
Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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