Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the UK pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010 is a six storey high object formed from some 60,000 slender transparent rods, which will extend from the structure and quiver in the breeze. The rods illuminates the interior which offers glowing effect at night. The design concept is ‘Better City, Better Life’.

Thomas Heatherwick, articulating his vision for the pavilion, said: “The Expo in Shanghai will be an amazing event; around two hundred countries competing for the attention of seventy million visitors. Our task is to make the UK pavilion stand out. We decided to do this by making one extraordinary object; not recognisable in conventional terms, set in a calm open site. Each visitor will be able to explore both in their own way. Rather than making a straightforward advert for the UK, we want our pavilion to give each person a more profound understanding of the richness of contemporary UK culture.”

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