Nicknamed 'the Seed Cathedral' and [my favourite] 'the Dandelion Building,' the UK pavilion, which was built for the World Expo in Shanghai, is unbelievable. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the 20 metre tall building recently won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Lubetkin Prize. It's made of 60,000 slender fibre optic rods, each containing a seed to promote the Millennium Seed Bank Project, an international conservation project introduced by the Royal Botanic Gardens.
When visitors walk into the structure, they are surrounded by the seeds; at night the whole construction glows; and the rods even 'quiver in the breeze.'
I adore quite possibly everything about this construction. I admire it's shape, how it's so different to some of the 'smooth' faced and harshly pronounced modern buildings; how its structure directly reflects upon its content and the Millenium Seed Bank Project, and manages to combine modern and natural connections.
What I enjoy the most is its ability to deceive your eyes and perspective. The protruding rods and blurred edges make part of you believe that this bizarre structure can't possibly be real, leaving you with an urge to touch it. I think this could also be partly due to it having a cube structure, rather than a sphere shape like similar natural forms such as a sea urchin or hedgehog, thus further enhancing its unnatural feel.
Other minor details also add something extra, without them the structure wouldn't be the same. The fact the structure glows and moves, making it seem alive and the seed in every single rod.
The project was incredibly thought out and is a fantastic piece of design. I find this building fascinating and wish I was able to hop on a plane to Shanghai and spend a day just walking around the Dandelion Building.
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