British designer Thomas Heatherwick recently released images of his updated design for the UK pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010. Awarded the commission in September 2007, Heatherwick has come up with a new six-storey pavilion under the theme “Better City, Better Life” that will dramatically demonstrate the creativity and innovation of the UK.
The structure is pierced by 60,000 transparent rods that will illuminate the interior of the pavilion with natural light during the day. At night, the 25-foot (7.5 meters) rods will transport light from the inside to the exterior, allowing the structure to glow.
Inside the transparent rods, the pavilion will house the largest collection of wild plant seeds in the world – Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Visitors will be able to access the “Seed Cathedral” by a series of walkways, which will depict the role of nature in UK cities in the past, present and in the future.
