UK pavilion at Expo 2010

Seed Cathedral
Seed Cathedral in the nighttime

The UK pavilion at Expo 2010, colloquially known as the Seed Cathedral, was a sculpture structure built by a nine-member conglomeration of British business and government resources directed by designer Thomas Heatherwick. It referenced the race to save seeds from round the world in banks, and housed 250,000 plant seeds at the end of 60,000 acrylic rods, held in place by geometrically-cut holes with the rods inserted therein.

The structure stood where it was built, at a cost of £25 million, in Shanghai for the 2010 World Expo[1][2] and won the BIE gold award for best pavilion design.[3]

The cathedral's architecture was an elaboration of Heatherwick's 2003 work of the Sitooterie II in Essex, United Kingdom.

The UK Pavilion catered to over 100 public and private sector events, hundreds of VIP and dignitary visits and over seven million general public visitors during the 6 months of Expo.

The cathedral has now been dismantled, with some rods donated to schools, some donated to the World Expo Museum and some being auctioned for charity.[4]

See also

Media related to UK Pavilion of Expo 2010 at Wikimedia Commons

References

External links

Architecture Critic Edward Lifson interviews architect Thomas Heatherwick in Shanghai about his Seed Cathedral.

Coordinates: 31°11′10″N 121°28′21″E / 31.18611°N 121.47250°E / 31.18611; 121.47250


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