Designing an idea. Commissioned by The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, this film describes the concept behind Thomas Heatherwick's design for the UK Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Drawing on London's history of innovation and its practice of bringing the natural world into the city, of its public parks, private and botanical gardens, and using a blend of 3d and 2d graphic animation, this film describes the line of thought which led to the pavilion's final design. 60,000 transparent rods which will each contain a suspended seed quiver in the wind, united to form a soft edged structure; the UK Pavilion, a seed cathedral.

With the vast potential that these seeds contain in mind, the pavilion's design acts as a metaphor, illustrating the potential to make our cities better, greener and more pleasant. In response to the Expo's theme: Better City, Better Life.

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Thomas Heatherwick established in 1994, Heatherwick Studio recognised for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design and strategic thinking. Today a team of 180, including architects, designers and makers, works from a combined studio and workshop in Kings Cross, London.

At the heart of the studio’s work is a profound commitment to finding innovative design solutions, with a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. This is achieved through a working methodology of collaborative rational inquiry, undertaken in a spirit of curiosity and experimentation.

In the twenty years of its existence, Heatherwick Studio has worked in many countries, with a wide range of commissioners and in a variety of regulatory environments. Through this experience, the studio has acquired a high level of expertise in the design and realisation of unusual projects, with a particular focus on the large scale.

The studio’s work includes a number of nationally significant projects for the UK, including the award-winning UK Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, the Olympic Cauldron for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and the New Bus for London.

Thomas is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects; a Senior Research Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum; and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Royal College of Art, University of Dundee, University of Brighton, Sheffield Hallam University and University of Manchester.

He has won the Prince Philip Designers Prize, and, in 2004, was the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. In 2010, Thomas was awarded the RIBA’s Lubetkin Prize and the London Design Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to design.

In 2013 Thomas was awarded a CBE for his services to the design industry.

 

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Published on: January 25, 2011
Cite: "UK Pavillion, Shanghai Expo 2010 by Thomas Heatherwick" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/uk-pavillion-shanghai-expo-2010-thomas-heatherwick> ISSN 1139-6415
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