Finland’s 2010 Shanghai Expo Pavilion “The Lantern”
Finish Lantern Shanghai World Expo 2010 - gettyimages-464364394-2048x2048
The 2010 World Exposition was held in Shanghai, China. The international event gave counties and corporations a global stage to showcase their unique culture, identity, and technology alongside local industry and innovation.
The Finnish Pavilion, fondly named Kirnu (Giants Kettle) was designed by architect’ure studio JKMM. Their winning proposal for the pavilion was to “portray their home country in microcosm”, presenting both Finland and its society to the world. The pavilions interior focused on futuristic elements and materials while sharing stories of Finland through state of the art technology. Like Finnish society, the pavilion combines creativity, high technology, and culture – a unity that makes for high quality living excellence and the making of better cities in general.
At the centre of the pavilion was a show stopping one of a kind elevator installation visitors were not soon to forget. Specially designed by KONE, the Finish elevator behemoth envisioned a three story glass shaft and complimentary elevator cab that shuttled people through the vertical landscape. Interior finishes utilized high quality architectural glass combined with then emerging LED technologies. The result was a truly unique centrepiece for the main hall and an integral part of the architecture of the pavilion.
The elevator emerges like a lantern from the ground creating a bridge that links visitors from the ground into and around the pavilion.
The kinetic experience doubling as a light sculpture put a spotlight on the key role elevators play in architecture. With more people than ever are living in cities, elevators have became the central mode of transportation for billions of people everyday. Kone elevated the theme “Better City, Better Life” and framed elevators as key component of building better cities. For that reason the Finnish exhibition stands out as one of the winners in Shanghai that year for using the installation to present to the world their industry leading technology, use of sustainable materials, and innovative design principles.
Sources:
Drawings :https://harni-takahashi.com/architecture/finnish-pavilion/
Images : Studio East (http://studioeast.photoshelter.com/gallery/Kone-Elevators-at-Culture-Center/G0000eme6bLzfp3s)
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