EXPO 2010-Finland Pavilion

Project Name: EXPO 2010-Finland Pavilion
Construction year: 2010
Website: www.finlandatexpo2010.fi
Address: Expo site , EXPO 2010-SHANGHAI - China

Architect(s) : JKMM architects (www.jkmm.fi)
Project Category: Cultural | Pavilions

Latitude: 31.1849
Longitude: 121.478

Finnish Pavilion

'Kirnu' ('giant's kettle) is JKMM architects winning design for the finnish pavillon at the shanghai world expo 2010. Head designer of the project is architect Teemu Kurkela.

The overall vision for the pavilion was to portray Finland in a microcosm, as a miniature city, with the interior of the pavilion tells stories of Finland and its people.

The sculptural architecture of kirnu draws on nature. The pavilion is to be considered something like an island, its formal language, free without symmetry. It will be surrounded by a mirror of water, with its surface covered by shingles resembling those of fish scales. as one begins to approach the building, the subtle, scaly surface will begin to take shape. Visitors will walk on a bridge towards the main entrance, whose sheer fabric surfaces will form a portal to the pavilion. The wooden floor will resemble that of a dock, with the smell of tar. There is also a gently sloping ramp ascending within the thick walls of kirnu's exhibition hall, a high space which winds around the atrium. After the exhibition hall, the ramp continues downward to the exit, shop and restaurant area.

The pavillion was designed entirely by computer with the environment and sustainability taken into consideration. Energy consumption will be minimized, with heat stress caused by the sun reduced by the direction in which the facilities face. The thick atrium walls, building materials and construction methods have been selected with the aim of minimizing CO2 emissions.

The most visible example of the reuse and recycling of materials can be found in the pavilion's façade.

The scale-like shingles are made of a mixture of paper and plastic which are a recycled product of the industry. Therefore, waste is recycled into a new construction material, a paper-plastic composite which is waterproof.

Contributed by ArchiTeam