Xpositions

1 Nature, Figure, Field Pavilion: Concept

Stefano Boeri is an architect and professor of urban design at the Politecnico di Milano. He was director of Domus (20042007) and Abitare (2007-2011), artistic director of Festarch (2008-2012), Fiorentina Summer in 2014, and MI / Arch from 2013.

In 1993, Boeri founded the research agency “Multiplicity,” and he is the author of numerous articles published in specialized international journals and books, including L'Anticittà (Laterza, 2011) and A Vertical Forest (Corraini, 2015). He is the designer of many well-known projects such as Milan's Vertical Forest, Villa Mediterranée in Marseille, and Casa della Mare in La Maddalena. His studio, Stefano Boeri Architetti, is currently engaged in the implementation of urban projects and development plans in Europe and other parts of the world.

Daniel Libeskind

Xiangning Li

Daniel Libeskind is an international figure in architecture and urban design. Informed by a deep commitment to music, philosophy, and literature, Mr. Libeskind aims to create architecture that is resonant, original, and sustainable. Libeskind established his architectural studio in Berlin, Germany in 1989 after winning the competition to build the Jewish Museum. In February 2003, Studio Libeskind moved its headquarters to New York City. The practice is involved in designing and realizing a diverse array of urban, cultural and commercial projects around the globe. The studio has completed buildings that range from museums and concert halls to convention centers, university buildings, hotels, shopping centers, and residential towers.

Dr. Xiangning Li is Vice Dean and full Professor in History, Theory, and Criticism at Tongji University College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He has published widely on the subject of contemporary Chinese architecture and urbanism, and has lectured at universities and institutes worldwide. He was a guest editor for Architectural Record and has served as an editorial board member for many design journals. He is a member of CICA (Comité International des Critiques d’Architecture) and served as academic director and curator of the 2013 Shenzhen/Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale and the 2013 West Bund Biennale. In 2016 Dr. Li taught Chinese architecture and urbanism as a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Studio Link-Arc

Studio Link-Arc is an international team of architects and designers based in New York. Led by Yichen Lu, Principal and Associate Professor at Tsinghua University, the firm works across disciplines to produce innovative work in urbanism, architecture, spatial art, and landscape, by connecting knowledge and resources from diverse perspectives and backgrounds from across the world. After winning the design competition for the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015 on behalf of Tsinghua University, Link-Arc led the project’s architectural component, managing design and construction from China, the United States, and Italy. Since completing the Pavilion, Studio Link-Arc has opened a second office in Shenzhen, expanding its reach and extending its ability to create innovative work across the world.

Pavilion Dialogues

Stefano Boeri

XPOSITIONS

Studio Link-Arc

XPOSITIONS: Pavilion Dialogues The China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015

Studio Link-Arc Dialogues with

Daniel Libeskind Stefano Boeri Xiangning Li Studio Link-Arc Edited by Original Copy

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

7

6

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

7

6

11

8

Introduction

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Dialogues

Pavilion

Borders

19

Concept

37

Digital

55

Design

73

Time

91

Construction

109

Place

127

Final

145

Appendix

161

11

8

Introduction

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Dialogues

Pavilion

Borders

19

Concept

37

Digital

55

Design

73

Time

91

Construction

109

Place

127

Final

145

Appendix

161

11

In May 2015, Studio Link-Arc completed its most prominent work to date—the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015.

The project was China’s first freestanding expo pavilion outside of its own borders.

Over the course of the project’s design and execution, several key ideas surfaced: temporality, longevity, and the legacy of expos; nationality and its representation; instantaneous place-making and iconicity; and the relationship between parametric design and craft.

The design process was a twentythree month period of intensive collaboration between the client, design leaders from Tsinghua University, the architects, and the consultant team.

Link-Arc continuously produced design documentation, construction drawings, and details, and coordinated every aspect of the building with a network of collaborators scattered across the world.

11

In May 2015, Studio Link-Arc completed its most prominent work to date—the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015.

The project was China’s first freestanding expo pavilion outside of its own borders.

Over the course of the project’s design and execution, several key ideas surfaced: temporality, longevity, and the legacy of expos; nationality and its representation; instantaneous place-making and iconicity; and the relationship between parametric design and craft.

The design process was a twentythree month period of intensive collaboration between the client, design leaders from Tsinghua University, the architects, and the consultant team.

Link-Arc continuously produced design documentation, construction drawings, and details, and coordinated every aspect of the building with a network of collaborators scattered across the world.

Dialogues: Borders

Dialogues: Borders

18

Dialogues: Borders

Dialogues: Borders

18

The interior of the Vanke Pavilion.

Daniel Libeskind: No, we live in a global world and I think people have realized that it’s not about the nationality of an artist, an architect, a writer. It’s really about the idea of a pavilion. The era where the architect came from one country and only worked in that one country is changing. There are still countries that are very immune to international architecture, but even that is changing rapidly. Countries like Japan, that were very closed off to influences from the rest of the world and where there

While the focus of World’s Fairs has shifted over time, the expos continue to center around a number of thematic pavilions. In recent expos these structures have been predominantly nationalistic—representing the participating countries and offering each an individualized space to showcase achievements. Is it important for those projects that they be designed by someone from the country the pavilion is representing?

Daniel Libeskind

Dialogues: Borders

DL: Absolutely. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. You want to represent the depth of a nation and the importance of tradition in a pavilion such as this. But that does not mean you are better at doing that if you come from the country it represents. Actually, you might be worst at doing it. We always think that someone who has lived in a place for eighty years knows it the best, but often a stranger can know a place better than somebody who inhabits it. There’s an old mythology to the idea that it is always an outsider who sees things more clearly, and

You’re in a bit more of a unique position, having designed a corporate pavilion, rather than a national structure for Expo Milano 2015. But despite not being representative of a country, you designed a structure for Vanke, a very well-known Chinese real estate company.

Did you still feel the need to bring in Chinese inspiration?

were hardly any foreign architects, are experiencing a big change. Expos are usually progressive experiments and they are at the forefront of saying, “We can do new things, we are living in a new time.” This is not the 1960s, ‘70s or ‘80s. This is the twentyfirst century.

The Vanke Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015

by Studio Libeskind.

21

DL: No, we haven’t! Actually, I went to Expo Milano a few weeks after it opened.

I usually go through the VIP entrance and go straight in, but this time I went anonymously, incognito. I took the subway and lined up to get the tickets with all the other visitors.

I wanted to know what the experience is like for any person. I was impressed that on a hot day in the height of the summer it was packed. People were mobbing all pavilions.

Whether the pavilions were small, large, good-looking, with boring facades or really spectacular facades. There were people from all over the world; I heard many different languages, not only Italian.

In today’s virtual world, there is a hunger to see real things that are different.

Of course, an expo is a collection of the unexpected; even just in the juxtapositions— you have the Turkmenistan Pavilion next to a pavilion from South America, next to one from Russia, next to the American Pavilion.

These are very unexpected adjacencies and I think this is what people love. It’s not just like

How much do these pavilions need to be representative of a country, or have we moved beyond that completely?

that the locals are just too close to see how obvious it is.

20

The interior of the Vanke Pavilion.

Daniel Libeskind: No, we live in a global world and I think people have realized that it’s not about the nationality of an artist, an architect, a writer. It’s really about the idea of a pavilion. The era where the architect came from one country and only worked in that one country is changing. There are still countries that are very immune to international architecture, but even that is changing rapidly. Countries like Japan, that were very closed off to influences from the rest of the world and where there

While the focus of World’s Fairs has shifted over time, the expos continue to center around a number of thematic pavilions. In recent expos these structures have been predominantly nationalistic—representing the participating countries and offering each an individualized space to showcase achievements. Is it important for those projects that they be designed by someone from the country the pavilion is representing?

Daniel Libeskind

Dialogues: Borders

DL: Absolutely. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. You want to represent the depth of a nation and the importance of tradition in a pavilion such as this. But that does not mean you are better at doing that if you come from the country it represents. Actually, you might be worst at doing it. We always think that someone who has lived in a place for eighty years knows it the best, but often a stranger can know a place better than somebody who inhabits it. There’s an old mythology to the idea that it is always an outsider who sees things more clearly, and

You’re in a bit more of a unique position, having designed a corporate pavilion, rather than a national structure for Expo Milano 2015. But despite not being representative of a country, you designed a structure for Vanke, a very well-known Chinese real estate company.

Did you still feel the need to bring in Chinese inspiration?

were hardly any foreign architects, are experiencing a big change. Expos are usually progressive experiments and they are at the forefront of saying, “We can do new things, we are living in a new time.” This is not the 1960s, ‘70s or ‘80s. This is the twentyfirst century.

The Vanke Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015

by Studio Libeskind.

21

DL: No, we haven’t! Actually, I went to Expo Milano a few weeks after it opened.

I usually go through the VIP entrance and go straight in, but this time I went anonymously, incognito. I took the subway and lined up to get the tickets with all the other visitors.

I wanted to know what the experience is like for any person. I was impressed that on a hot day in the height of the summer it was packed. People were mobbing all pavilions.

Whether the pavilions were small, large, good-looking, with boring facades or really spectacular facades. There were people from all over the world; I heard many different languages, not only Italian.

In today’s virtual world, there is a hunger to see real things that are different.

Of course, an expo is a collection of the unexpected; even just in the juxtapositions— you have the Turkmenistan Pavilion next to a pavilion from South America, next to one from Russia, next to the American Pavilion.

These are very unexpected adjacencies and I think this is what people love. It’s not just like

How much do these pavilions need to be representative of a country, or have we moved beyond that completely?

that the locals are just too close to see how obvious it is.

20

XL: People talk about critical regionalism— that one region should have its own identity.

But Alan Colquhoun wrote a very important article called, “The Concept of Regionalism” in 1997. He traced the historic development of the idea of regionalism, and assessed that in a global era—when construction technology, materials, and building methods are the same all over the world—there is no point in making a different kind of image.

Also, while so-called regionalism seems to value different cultures, in actuality it’s a very Eurocentric or Western-centric idea. To

Even though you can see the differentiation between architecture from countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, and China, is there a global sensibility; an overarching characteristic of “contemporary architecture” today?

the country is not very confident in its own contemporary culture. That’s why in every previous expo, they always made references to our tradition, our historic image. That's why in 2010, at the Shanghai Expo, they incorporated a large fake roof into the design of the China Pavilion. The Expo Milano 2015 was the first time they tried to get away from the traditional image of China.

Dialogues: Borders

XL: I’ve been observing and writing about Chinese architecture for many years and for me the contemporary characteristic of a Chinese architectural identity would be something that derives out of very dense urbanism, which is different from the context of current small European cities and countries. We’ve seen a need for very fast and low-cost construction, which sometimes is temporary because a society has been growing so fast. Buildings in Europe and

What is the contemporary discourse in China about its own national architecture?

focus on critical regionalism or regionalism is to say that Chinese people can only research Chinese culture and African people study African culture, but a white male can research and study everything. Part of the mistake was that regionalism was thought of only as a way to deal with an original kind of identity. Colquhoun would say that regionalism today is only a way of generating an interesting form or motif.

Everybody wants to compete with each other; we always want to perform the best so as to differentiate ourselves. Architecture is another way people are struggling to create different images. Architects try to be more fancy and eye-catching compared to others.

29

The Zhongshan Road Renovation by Amateur Architecture Studio.

The China Pavilion for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

the United States will often stand for several decades or even several hundred years, but in China they may be demolished in two years. If this is what society wants, architects should develop a strategy to build fast, cheaply, with low technology.

28

XL: People talk about critical regionalism— that one region should have its own identity.

But Alan Colquhoun wrote a very important article called, “The Concept of Regionalism” in 1997. He traced the historic development of the idea of regionalism, and assessed that in a global era—when construction technology, materials, and building methods are the same all over the world—there is no point in making a different kind of image.

Also, while so-called regionalism seems to value different cultures, in actuality it’s a very Eurocentric or Western-centric idea. To

Even though you can see the differentiation between architecture from countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, and China, is there a global sensibility; an overarching characteristic of “contemporary architecture” today?

the country is not very confident in its own contemporary culture. That’s why in every previous expo, they always made references to our tradition, our historic image. That's why in 2010, at the Shanghai Expo, they incorporated a large fake roof into the design of the China Pavilion. The Expo Milano 2015 was the first time they tried to get away from the traditional image of China.

Dialogues: Borders

XL: I’ve been observing and writing about Chinese architecture for many years and for me the contemporary characteristic of a Chinese architectural identity would be something that derives out of very dense urbanism, which is different from the context of current small European cities and countries. We’ve seen a need for very fast and low-cost construction, which sometimes is temporary because a society has been growing so fast. Buildings in Europe and

What is the contemporary discourse in China about its own national architecture?

focus on critical regionalism or regionalism is to say that Chinese people can only research Chinese culture and African people study African culture, but a white male can research and study everything. Part of the mistake was that regionalism was thought of only as a way to deal with an original kind of identity. Colquhoun would say that regionalism today is only a way of generating an interesting form or motif.

Everybody wants to compete with each other; we always want to perform the best so as to differentiate ourselves. Architecture is another way people are struggling to create different images. Architects try to be more fancy and eye-catching compared to others.

29

The Zhongshan Road Renovation by Amateur Architecture Studio.

The China Pavilion for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

the United States will often stand for several decades or even several hundred years, but in China they may be demolished in two years. If this is what society wants, architects should develop a strategy to build fast, cheaply, with low technology.

28

36

Pavilion: Concept

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Nature, Figure, Field

In the summer of 2013, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) held an invited two-stage design competition for the commission to design and build the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015. The first stage involved around ten teams, many of which were led by prominent Chinese design schools and large design institutions. The Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University was invited to participate and, as an Associate Professor, Yichen Lu was tasked with leading the architectural design.

At the same time, the Academy assembled teams from other departments to design the exhibitions, landscape architecture, interiors, and signage. These groups collaborated closely to produce a design scheme that would tightly integrate the architecture, the interior design, and the exhibition program, in order to tell a compelling cultural story.

The theme for Expo Milano 2015 was “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” Each participant was asked to think deeply about the relationship between agriculture and

society within the context of an increasingly global and industrialized world. CCPIT developed a parallel theme for the China Pavilion, “The Land of Hope,” as a way of expanding on the expo’s original concept and lending Chinese cultural significance to the project. A successful design would need to combine the two related but separate themes.

Link-Arc began the design process by considering the history of the expo, beginning with its roots as an industrial trade fair, to its development into a vehicle for international cultural exchange, and finally to its more recent history as an exercise in national branding and marketing. Historically, World’s Fairs had been understood as laboratories for architectural experimentation, which worked well with the technological utopianism often on display at these events. While researching the history of the World’s Fairs from a perspective of architecture and urbanism, however, the

36

Pavilion: Concept

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Nature, Figure, Field

In the summer of 2013, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) held an invited two-stage design competition for the commission to design and build the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015. The first stage involved around ten teams, many of which were led by prominent Chinese design schools and large design institutions. The Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University was invited to participate and, as an Associate Professor, Yichen Lu was tasked with leading the architectural design.

At the same time, the Academy assembled teams from other departments to design the exhibitions, landscape architecture, interiors, and signage. These groups collaborated closely to produce a design scheme that would tightly integrate the architecture, the interior design, and the exhibition program, in order to tell a compelling cultural story.

The theme for Expo Milano 2015 was “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” Each participant was asked to think deeply about the relationship between agriculture and

society within the context of an increasingly global and industrialized world. CCPIT developed a parallel theme for the China Pavilion, “The Land of Hope,” as a way of expanding on the expo’s original concept and lending Chinese cultural significance to the project. A successful design would need to combine the two related but separate themes.

Link-Arc began the design process by considering the history of the expo, beginning with its roots as an industrial trade fair, to its development into a vehicle for international cultural exchange, and finally to its more recent history as an exercise in national branding and marketing. Historically, World’s Fairs had been understood as laboratories for architectural experimentation, which worked well with the technological utopianism often on display at these events. While researching the history of the World’s Fairs from a perspective of architecture and urbanism, however, the

49

48

14

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

13

to create additional sectional and spatial variation. The zone between the roof and the ground plane could be understood as a multifaceted field-space that would extend the public zone of the expo master plan. The enclosed spaces required by the program could be articulated as physical objects beneath the roof, but could be minimized so the architectural experience would be defined by a sense of openness.

With the larger concept in place, the design process moved forward. Link-Arc continued to develop the project via a number of separate explorations, each of which was linked either to the larger Expo Milano 2015 and client themes or to the needs articulated by the China Pavilion’s cultural program.

The project’s floating roof was one of the primary components of the pavilion’s final development. The design team created many different options for its form and articulation, each with its own generative strategy and relationship to the project site. After evaluating and refining an array of concepts,

15

13. Study models showing an early option for the arrangement of the program beneath the roof.

14. The China Pavilion under construction with the Italian Alps in the background. The "landscape" profile is visible in the steel rafters.

15. Concept diagram of the "landscape to city" strategy that defines the China Pavilion's unique roof form.

Link-Arc arrived at a very simple gesture that clearly expressed the client’s theme for the China Pavilion and also created the desired contrast between a “soft” southern edge and a “hard” northern edge.

The final form of the pavilion roof was created by merging two geometric profiles.

The north edge is defined by a city skyline profile, a “hard” line derived from an image of the Beijing Central Business District. The southern edge is defined by the silhouette of a rolling landscape, a “soft” profile derived from an image of the Guilin Mountains in southern China. These two profiles were melded digitally to create the China Pavilion’s roof form.

Keeping with the client’s theme for the project, this gesture suggests that “hope” can be achieved when nature and city exist in harmony.

Conceptually, the roof form (and the method by which it was generated) would imply the complex relationship between contemporary urban society and the natural world, linking the project to Expo Milano’s larger theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.”

49

48

14

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

13

to create additional sectional and spatial variation. The zone between the roof and the ground plane could be understood as a multifaceted field-space that would extend the public zone of the expo master plan. The enclosed spaces required by the program could be articulated as physical objects beneath the roof, but could be minimized so the architectural experience would be defined by a sense of openness.

With the larger concept in place, the design process moved forward. Link-Arc continued to develop the project via a number of separate explorations, each of which was linked either to the larger Expo Milano 2015 and client themes or to the needs articulated by the China Pavilion’s cultural program.

The project’s floating roof was one of the primary components of the pavilion’s final development. The design team created many different options for its form and articulation, each with its own generative strategy and relationship to the project site. After evaluating and refining an array of concepts,

15

13. Study models showing an early option for the arrangement of the program beneath the roof.

14. The China Pavilion under construction with the Italian Alps in the background. The "landscape" profile is visible in the steel rafters.

15. Concept diagram of the "landscape to city" strategy that defines the China Pavilion's unique roof form.

Link-Arc arrived at a very simple gesture that clearly expressed the client’s theme for the China Pavilion and also created the desired contrast between a “soft” southern edge and a “hard” northern edge.

The final form of the pavilion roof was created by merging two geometric profiles.

The north edge is defined by a city skyline profile, a “hard” line derived from an image of the Beijing Central Business District. The southern edge is defined by the silhouette of a rolling landscape, a “soft” profile derived from an image of the Guilin Mountains in southern China. These two profiles were melded digitally to create the China Pavilion’s roof form.

Keeping with the client’s theme for the project, this gesture suggests that “hope” can be achieved when nature and city exist in harmony.

Conceptually, the roof form (and the method by which it was generated) would imply the complex relationship between contemporary urban society and the natural world, linking the project to Expo Milano’s larger theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.”

DL: Yes, hugely. It's like playing the piano.

If you know how to play the piano, you can do almost anything with a piano. It is the same thing with the computer. There are people who are great artists with the computer, I've seen them. I'm not one of them because I don't even have one. There are people who can can use the tool in a way that is

You're saying that construction is benefiting from the digital?

DL: There are different kinds of tools.

Tools that coordinate production of architecture, that coordinate cost, that coordinate materials, that coordinate the actual production of the building. It's kind of amazing, because what would take you months you can do simultaneously as you design a building. But, that's different from the actual compound of what a building really is. What a building really is is something different, it's not simply reducible to its materials, to the logic of its construction.

Are there differences in how people in different parts of the world are using digital tools today?

connected to something real or whether it's just a simulacrum of reality.

Daniel Libeskind: You couldn’t do architecture today if you didn’t use a computer, or the power of computing.

You could draw it, but you could never build it. Maybe some of the forms could not even be drawn. So, it’s an incredible tool. It has changed the way we all work, but there is a school of thought where people think that the digital is going to invent the new architecture. It’s like thinking that the pencil is going to invent a new architecture, or a chisel is going to invent a new architecture.

The tool is only as good as the person who is using the tool. It is a means to an end. I never use the computing power as a game. A lot of people believe it's game theory, you can play games, you can have a function that creates a certain aesthetic, or even an entire spatial system. I don’t think those things are satisfactory. They are as hollow as anything that is virtually

How do you use digital design in your practice and how do you see other people doing it?

Daniel Libeskind

Dialogues: Digital

Detailed section of the Vanke Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015.

DL: Oh, definitely not. I use computers as much as anyone else, of course. Architecture is not only geared into the rationalist processes of technology, it is also poetic art,

You wouldn’t define your work as parametric?

produced. I still start with the drawing, the sketch. Very old-fashioned; with the dream.

With something kind of primitive, and then of course, at some point it is implemented into modern-day technology.

I feel connected and plugged into this amazing field of technology, that ocean of possibilities, but I never design from a computer and I don’t think it’s good because you can very easily get lost in the abstract world of computing. You know, if somebody is drawing a line, how high is that line? How many centimeters? A lot of buildings can look good in photographs, and can even look good in a perspective of a street, but you know that they’ve been designed virtually because there’s something really missing in them. I can tell you whole parts of cities that have been designed in a computer, and they function perfectly well and everybody goes there, but they lack something of a human imperfection that is necessary to make a space.

57

DL: No, it's not homogenizing. It's making it more difficult through the productions of the system to see what is at stake.

For example, it used to be easy to just see a portfolio and understand whether somebody knew how to draw. Now, with a digital portfolio, you cannot know.

There's nothing in it that will tell you about the ability of this person, because everybody can get the tool and produce a rendering that looks very much alike.

You need to do something else. You need to look into the eyes of a person, into their dreams, to see whether that image is

Do you think this new set of tools is homogenizing architecture?

like calligraphy, like writing, like making a film, or writing a poem. There’s a poetic element of it, which is not dependent on equipment or any part of sophisticated equipment. Some of the best travelers are the people who have never left their desk.

They’ve never been anywhere, but they’re the greatest travelers in the world. As great as Marco Polo.

It’s not about the means, it’s about the end. What do you want to do? What is the reason? Why do you want to build something? What is the meaning of it?

56

DL: Yes, hugely. It's like playing the piano.

If you know how to play the piano, you can do almost anything with a piano. It is the same thing with the computer. There are people who are great artists with the computer, I've seen them. I'm not one of them because I don't even have one. There are people who can can use the tool in a way that is

You're saying that construction is benefiting from the digital?

DL: There are different kinds of tools.

Tools that coordinate production of architecture, that coordinate cost, that coordinate materials, that coordinate the actual production of the building. It's kind of amazing, because what would take you months you can do simultaneously as you design a building. But, that's different from the actual compound of what a building really is. What a building really is is something different, it's not simply reducible to its materials, to the logic of its construction.

Are there differences in how people in different parts of the world are using digital tools today?

connected to something real or whether it's just a simulacrum of reality.

Daniel Libeskind: You couldn’t do architecture today if you didn’t use a computer, or the power of computing.

You could draw it, but you could never build it. Maybe some of the forms could not even be drawn. So, it’s an incredible tool. It has changed the way we all work, but there is a school of thought where people think that the digital is going to invent the new architecture. It’s like thinking that the pencil is going to invent a new architecture, or a chisel is going to invent a new architecture.

The tool is only as good as the person who is using the tool. It is a means to an end. I never use the computing power as a game. A lot of people believe it's game theory, you can play games, you can have a function that creates a certain aesthetic, or even an entire spatial system. I don’t think those things are satisfactory. They are as hollow as anything that is virtually

How do you use digital design in your practice and how do you see other people doing it?

Daniel Libeskind

Dialogues: Digital

Detailed section of the Vanke Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015.

DL: Oh, definitely not. I use computers as much as anyone else, of course. Architecture is not only geared into the rationalist processes of technology, it is also poetic art,

You wouldn’t define your work as parametric?

produced. I still start with the drawing, the sketch. Very old-fashioned; with the dream.

With something kind of primitive, and then of course, at some point it is implemented into modern-day technology.

I feel connected and plugged into this amazing field of technology, that ocean of possibilities, but I never design from a computer and I don’t think it’s good because you can very easily get lost in the abstract world of computing. You know, if somebody is drawing a line, how high is that line? How many centimeters? A lot of buildings can look good in photographs, and can even look good in a perspective of a street, but you know that they’ve been designed virtually because there’s something really missing in them. I can tell you whole parts of cities that have been designed in a computer, and they function perfectly well and everybody goes there, but they lack something of a human imperfection that is necessary to make a space.

57

DL: No, it's not homogenizing. It's making it more difficult through the productions of the system to see what is at stake.

For example, it used to be easy to just see a portfolio and understand whether somebody knew how to draw. Now, with a digital portfolio, you cannot know.

There's nothing in it that will tell you about the ability of this person, because everybody can get the tool and produce a rendering that looks very much alike.

You need to do something else. You need to look into the eyes of a person, into their dreams, to see whether that image is

Do you think this new set of tools is homogenizing architecture?

like calligraphy, like writing, like making a film, or writing a poem. There’s a poetic element of it, which is not dependent on equipment or any part of sophisticated equipment. Some of the best travelers are the people who have never left their desk.

They’ve never been anywhere, but they’re the greatest travelers in the world. As great as Marco Polo.

It’s not about the means, it’s about the end. What do you want to do? What is the reason? Why do you want to build something? What is the meaning of it?

56

SLA: One thing about the China Pavilion that was interesting to us was that even though we put together a serious drawing set for the project, most of the complicated technical coordination—the entire roof basically— occurred using digital models. In terms of how the pavilion came together, our threedimensional model showed the situation far better than the drawings and most of the fabricators on the project were coordinating their work via models instead of drawings.

If I send you a three-dimensional model, there can be different interpretations of a design, whereas a two-dimensional drawing is more like a contract. Do you see two-dimensional drawings as a means of communication between the architect and the contractor?

pavilion. Using these older materials in very contemporary ways was really difficult. If we had used more modern materials our lives would have been much easier, but the end result would have been much less interesting and would have taken away from the cultural associations we were trying to make. Combining the digital with the physical was our goal from day one and it was critical to how the project turned out.

SLA: It often looks that way, but that does not have to be the case. When we were working on the China Pavilion we were using digital

If you see the reduction of the human factor in parametric design in terms of construction and fabrication, do you also feel like there's loss of craft in design?

development level of local industry—it’s not just the design methodology itself.

For example, it’s much easier to get support in America if you want to build with a parametric tool. The manufacturing universe in the United States is more mature and if you want to obtain something custom or experimental, the resources exist. The price, however, is the high cost.

We also notice, because of digital design tools and the increasingly industrial nature of construction, that people are losing the ability to use their hands to craft buildings— they feel more comfortable using digital and industrial tools to assemble and install buildings. Some people think that’s the ultimate trajectory of this. To be honest, we’re not certain. We find that many new buildings out there are “decorated” as opposed to being “constructed” in the classical sense.

That seems soulless—there’s an aspect of the human touch that goes away.

Dialogues: Digital

Axonometric panel diagram of the China Pavilion roof showing the angle, dimension, and location of each panel.

SLA: Precision is important, obviously, but that’s not the ultimate goal. There’s something of a perception that if it’s parametrically designed it has to be this glossy, space-age thing, but there’s no reason craft and parametrics can’t coexist.

We would actually argue that in an ideal world, parametrics can improve craft. We see our role in all of this as connecting one to the other. It’s about continuing a tradition, not creating a break with history.

It was a challenge for us to achieve the tactile quality that you see in the

In this sense, parametricism has the ability to be more precise and actually facilitate a lot of craft.

design tools—Rhino, Processing, and so on—but we were using these them to promote fundamental architectural ideals: material, space, and light.

We wanted to emphasize a handcrafted quality for the pavilion. You can see it clearly in the bamboo roof panels, in the roof structure and in the exterior walls— all these different materials share a sense of visual texture and warmth. They have a tactile sensibility to them that we worked hard to achieve and that we feel is missing from much of contemporary architecture.

69

Below: Construction photo from beneath the roof showing the shadows cast by the bamboo panels on the roof membrane.

Above: Construction photo from outside showing the China Pavilion roof panels being installed onsite.

68

SLA: One thing about the China Pavilion that was interesting to us was that even though we put together a serious drawing set for the project, most of the complicated technical coordination—the entire roof basically— occurred using digital models. In terms of how the pavilion came together, our threedimensional model showed the situation far better than the drawings and most of the fabricators on the project were coordinating their work via models instead of drawings.

If I send you a three-dimensional model, there can be different interpretations of a design, whereas a two-dimensional drawing is more like a contract. Do you see two-dimensional drawings as a means of communication between the architect and the contractor?

pavilion. Using these older materials in very contemporary ways was really difficult. If we had used more modern materials our lives would have been much easier, but the end result would have been much less interesting and would have taken away from the cultural associations we were trying to make. Combining the digital with the physical was our goal from day one and it was critical to how the project turned out.

SLA: It often looks that way, but that does not have to be the case. When we were working on the China Pavilion we were using digital

If you see the reduction of the human factor in parametric design in terms of construction and fabrication, do you also feel like there's loss of craft in design?

development level of local industry—it’s not just the design methodology itself.

For example, it’s much easier to get support in America if you want to build with a parametric tool. The manufacturing universe in the United States is more mature and if you want to obtain something custom or experimental, the resources exist. The price, however, is the high cost.

We also notice, because of digital design tools and the increasingly industrial nature of construction, that people are losing the ability to use their hands to craft buildings— they feel more comfortable using digital and industrial tools to assemble and install buildings. Some people think that’s the ultimate trajectory of this. To be honest, we’re not certain. We find that many new buildings out there are “decorated” as opposed to being “constructed” in the classical sense.

That seems soulless—there’s an aspect of the human touch that goes away.

Dialogues: Digital

Axonometric panel diagram of the China Pavilion roof showing the angle, dimension, and location of each panel.

SLA: Precision is important, obviously, but that’s not the ultimate goal. There’s something of a perception that if it’s parametrically designed it has to be this glossy, space-age thing, but there’s no reason craft and parametrics can’t coexist.

We would actually argue that in an ideal world, parametrics can improve craft. We see our role in all of this as connecting one to the other. It’s about continuing a tradition, not creating a break with history.

It was a challenge for us to achieve the tactile quality that you see in the

In this sense, parametricism has the ability to be more precise and actually facilitate a lot of craft.

design tools—Rhino, Processing, and so on—but we were using these them to promote fundamental architectural ideals: material, space, and light.

We wanted to emphasize a handcrafted quality for the pavilion. You can see it clearly in the bamboo roof panels, in the roof structure and in the exterior walls— all these different materials share a sense of visual texture and warmth. They have a tactile sensibility to them that we worked hard to achieve and that we feel is missing from much of contemporary architecture.

69

Below: Construction photo from beneath the roof showing the shadows cast by the bamboo panels on the roof membrane.

Above: Construction photo from outside showing the China Pavilion roof panels being installed onsite.

68

72

Pavilion: Design

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Digital to Spatial

The design and realization of the China Pavilion was defined by a process of international collaboration and of advanced digital design techniques. Link-Arc directed this process in collaboration with ATLV, a Los Angeles-based parametric design consultancy.

The China Pavilion’s roof geometry was based on a control surface created by digitally merging the profiles of the Beijing skyline and of a mountain range in Guilin.

While this made conceptual sense, the form generated by this operation (based on profiles traced faithfully from the original imagery) was complex with irregular moments that impacted the constructability of the roof.

After winning the design competition, Link-Arc rationalized the control surface by abstracting the landscape and city profiles, streamlining the roof form and bringing clarity to the space below. This effort also helped reinforce the site response.

Simplifying the southern landscape profile

into a gently curving silhouette softened the transition from the site to the pavilion.

Similarly, clarifying the city skyline profile amplified the hard-edged character of the north elevation. The control surface that arose from this process would ultimately define every component of the roof, including: the bamboo panels, the supporters, the waterproofing membrane, and the structure beneath.

The design of the roof panels began with the application of very simple geometric rules. Link-Arc divided the roof into eastwest gridlines, spaced two meters apart, and then overlaid a secondary grid that would define the bamboo panel geometry.

This secondary geometry, applied at an angle relative to the east-west gridlines, would allow the roof panels to have their own formal order, separate from the roof structure. This unified the surface and emphasized the clarity of the original gesture. The use of Processing allowed the team to apply the panel geometry with

72

Pavilion: Design

Pavilion: Concept

Nature, Figure, Field

Digital to Spatial

The design and realization of the China Pavilion was defined by a process of international collaboration and of advanced digital design techniques. Link-Arc directed this process in collaboration with ATLV, a Los Angeles-based parametric design consultancy.

The China Pavilion’s roof geometry was based on a control surface created by digitally merging the profiles of the Beijing skyline and of a mountain range in Guilin.

While this made conceptual sense, the form generated by this operation (based on profiles traced faithfully from the original imagery) was complex with irregular moments that impacted the constructability of the roof.

After winning the design competition, Link-Arc rationalized the control surface by abstracting the landscape and city profiles, streamlining the roof form and bringing clarity to the space below. This effort also helped reinforce the site response.

Simplifying the southern landscape profile

into a gently curving silhouette softened the transition from the site to the pavilion.

Similarly, clarifying the city skyline profile amplified the hard-edged character of the north elevation. The control surface that arose from this process would ultimately define every component of the roof, including: the bamboo panels, the supporters, the waterproofing membrane, and the structure beneath.

The design of the roof panels began with the application of very simple geometric rules. Link-Arc divided the roof into eastwest gridlines, spaced two meters apart, and then overlaid a secondary grid that would define the bamboo panel geometry.

This secondary geometry, applied at an angle relative to the east-west gridlines, would allow the roof panels to have their own formal order, separate from the roof structure. This unified the surface and emphasized the clarity of the original gesture. The use of Processing allowed the team to apply the panel geometry with

75

74 Digital to Spatial

1

2 1. An early digital study of the China Pavilion with roof panels in a staggered configuration.

2. An early study model of the China Pavilion.

Pavilion: Design

3. A trio of diagrams explaining the development of the paneling and support geometry rules.

faster precision, and allowed design options to be explored quickly.

Working within this basic logic, LinkArc conducted a number of studies to look at various alternatives for the size and form of the panels, and their angle relative to the primary east-west grid. These studies were conducted using parametric design methods, combined with manual digital modeling and physical model studies. This multipronged exploration allowed the team to quickly understand how different panel configurations would impact the exterior massing, how they would look from below, and what light effects they would create.

Ultimately, Link-Arc chose a scheme based on a simple rectangular panel. The studies had made clear that overly sculptural panels would detract from the clarity of the original gesture and would add difficulty in terms of fabrication and installation. The China Pavilion would move forward using a flat rectangular panel prototype and further

3

75

74 Digital to Spatial

1

2 1. An early digital study of the China Pavilion with roof panels in a staggered configuration.

2. An early study model of the China Pavilion.

Pavilion: Design

3. A trio of diagrams explaining the development of the paneling and support geometry rules.

faster precision, and allowed design options to be explored quickly.

Working within this basic logic, LinkArc conducted a number of studies to look at various alternatives for the size and form of the panels, and their angle relative to the primary east-west grid. These studies were conducted using parametric design methods, combined with manual digital modeling and physical model studies. This multipronged exploration allowed the team to quickly understand how different panel configurations would impact the exterior massing, how they would look from below, and what light effects they would create.

Ultimately, Link-Arc chose a scheme based on a simple rectangular panel. The studies had made clear that overly sculptural panels would detract from the clarity of the original gesture and would add difficulty in terms of fabrication and installation. The China Pavilion would move forward using a flat rectangular panel prototype and further

3

144

Pavilion: Final

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

The Expo and the World

The China Pavilion is experienced as a field of spaces. Visitors enter from the south, descending into the ground via a landscaped entry zone. Designed to reference traditional Chinese village design in its planting and articulation, this zone extends the cultural program into the landscape and heightens the anticipation of the experience. This space leads into a preface area, located beneath the low point of the pavilion’s roof. Incorporating multimedia displays linked to the exhibition program, the preface space allows visitors to experience the roof up close, giving them a closer understanding the pavilion’s deeply tectonic nature while hinting at the dramatic experience beyond.

Visitors are then led into an exhibition area located beneath the multimedia space.

This area features interactive agricultural and culinary exhibits integrated into the landscaped field. From this space, viewers are led upwards via a gently ramped stair to a panoramic platform on the pavilion’s second floor. Beneath the roof, viewers

experience the compositional tension created by the merging of the landscape and the city profiles, and can view an LED matrix installation made of 22,000 LED tubes integrated into the landscape. This installation serves as the centerpiece of the pavilion's cultural program.

After viewing the installation, visitors are led into the multimedia hall, which plays short films on the annual Spring festival, and accommodates live performances that showcase indigenous cultures. Once the experience of the cultural program is complete, visitors exit the building via a light bridge located above the pavilion’s roof.

From here, visitors enjoy expansive views of the expo grounds. Viewers pass through a portal into the exit space, located beneath the southern peak of the China Pavilion roof.

Defined by monumental proportions and deep timber structure, this space concludes the experience of the project.

144

Pavilion: Final

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

The Expo and the World

The China Pavilion is experienced as a field of spaces. Visitors enter from the south, descending into the ground via a landscaped entry zone. Designed to reference traditional Chinese village design in its planting and articulation, this zone extends the cultural program into the landscape and heightens the anticipation of the experience. This space leads into a preface area, located beneath the low point of the pavilion’s roof. Incorporating multimedia displays linked to the exhibition program, the preface space allows visitors to experience the roof up close, giving them a closer understanding the pavilion’s deeply tectonic nature while hinting at the dramatic experience beyond.

Visitors are then led into an exhibition area located beneath the multimedia space.

This area features interactive agricultural and culinary exhibits integrated into the landscaped field. From this space, viewers are led upwards via a gently ramped stair to a panoramic platform on the pavilion’s second floor. Beneath the roof, viewers

experience the compositional tension created by the merging of the landscape and the city profiles, and can view an LED matrix installation made of 22,000 LED tubes integrated into the landscape. This installation serves as the centerpiece of the pavilion's cultural program.

After viewing the installation, visitors are led into the multimedia hall, which plays short films on the annual Spring festival, and accommodates live performances that showcase indigenous cultures. Once the experience of the cultural program is complete, visitors exit the building via a light bridge located above the pavilion’s roof.

From here, visitors enjoy expansive views of the expo grounds. Viewers pass through a portal into the exit space, located beneath the southern peak of the China Pavilion roof.

Defined by monumental proportions and deep timber structure, this space concludes the experience of the project.

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

147

146

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

147

146

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

149

148

Pavilion: Final

The Expo and the World

149

148

3

2

5

1

3

4

3

4

5

2

6

1

2

6

6

4

5

100

1

200 m

8

16 m

0

8

16 m

1 panorama platform 2 banquet hall 3 multimedia space

level 2 plan

0

1 exterior landscape 2 preface space 3 themed exhibition

level 1 plan

0

4 north/south public path (cardo) 5 lake arena 6 china pavilion

4 offices 5 bridge 6 exit

163

4 led installation 5 restaurant 6 souvenir shop

1 water feature 2 east/west public path (decumano) 3 subway station

expo site plan

162

3

2

5

1

3

4

3

4

5

2

6

1

2

6

6

4

5

100

1

200 m

8

16 m

0

8

16 m

1 panorama platform 2 banquet hall 3 multimedia space

level 2 plan

0

1 exterior landscape 2 preface space 3 themed exhibition

level 1 plan

0

4 north/south public path (cardo) 5 lake arena 6 china pavilion

4 offices 5 bridge 6 exit

163

4 led installation 5 restaurant 6 souvenir shop

1 water feature 2 east/west public path (decumano) 3 subway station

expo site plan

162

4

1

5

10 m

2

panorama platform led installation banquet hall offices

1 2 3 4

multimedia space exit space exterior bridge themed exhibition

5 6 7 8

enlarged section (south)

0

1 2 3 4

public ramp storage glass curtainwall steel rafter

north-south longitudinal section

3

3

9 timber rafter 10 roof panels 11 outrigger

5

1

6

2

9

7

8

11

10

3

1

2

2

roof panel panel fold (up) panel fold (down) single supporter

5 6 7 8

1 timber purlin 2 timber rafter 3 steel purlin

8

4 waterproofing 5 roof panel

4

1

double supporter panel-to-panel supporter joint line outrigger

enlarged section: roof zone 2

1 2 3 4

panel/supporter plan: roof zone 2

1

4

6

5

7

3

4

4

0

1 2 3 4

5

165

10 m

multimedia space feature stair themed exhibition led installation

east-west cross section

164

3

5

2

4

1

5

10 m

2

panorama platform led installation banquet hall offices

1 2 3 4

multimedia space exit space exterior bridge themed exhibition

5 6 7 8

enlarged section (south)

0

1 2 3 4

public ramp storage glass curtainwall steel rafter

north-south longitudinal section

3

3

9 timber rafter 10 roof panels 11 outrigger

5

1

6

2

9

7

8

11

10

3

1

2

2

roof panel panel fold (up) panel fold (down) single supporter

5 6 7 8

1 timber purlin 2 timber rafter 3 steel purlin

8

4 waterproofing 5 roof panel

4

1

double supporter panel-to-panel supporter joint line outrigger

enlarged section: roof zone 2

1 2 3 4

panel/supporter plan: roof zone 2

1

4

6

5

7

3

4

4

0

1 2 3 4

5

165

10 m

multimedia space feature stair themed exhibition led installation

east-west cross section

164

3

5

2

Total visitors Tickets sold Expo Milano volunteers Days open Country participants Size of the pavilion grounds (hectares)

1,616 1,052 542 287 259 147 40 24 24 17 12

Aluminum panel frames Bamboo roof panels Days to design Roof panel types Days to build Number of models built Average number of minutes spent in China Pavilion Architecture team size Consultant team size Design team members Nationalities involved in design and construction

Design Director: Zhang Yue, Du Yi

Project Director: Su Dan

Full Design Services: Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University + Studio Link-Arc (New York)

Organizer: Expo Milano 2015

Client: China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

Design/Completion: 2013-2015

Project Area: 3975 sq.m

Site Area: 4590 sq.m

Program: exhibits, food service, theater, installations, retail, reception, meeting, office, etc.

Project Location: Milan, Italy

General Contractor: China Arts Construction and Decoration Company + Unique Europe + Bodino Engineering

MEP Engineer: Beijing Qingshang Environmental Art & Architectural Design + F&M Ingegneria

Enclosure Engineer: Elite Facade Consultants + ATLV

Structural Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger + F&M Ingegneria

Architect and Engineer of Record: F&M Ingegneria

Project Team: Mario Bastianelli, Alban Denic, Yihong Deng, Ivi Diamantopoulou, Shuning Fan, Yoko Fujita, Zachary Grzybowski, Chen Hu, Ching-Tsung Huang, Wei Huang, Elvira Hoxha, Chen Jin, Dongyul Kim, Hyunjoo Lee, Zifan Liu. Aymar MariĂąo-Maza, Frank Melendez, Jose Silva, Zhou Yuan

Project Manager: Qinwen Cai, Kenneth Namkung

Chief Architect: Yichen Lu

Project Name: The China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015

2

Expo in Italy

Architecture

17

Participating civil society groups and NGOs

Project Information

39

70

93

110

145

184

18,000

10,000,000

22,200,000

Timber Structure Manufacturer timber structure manufacturer Steel Structure Manufacturer steel structure manufacturer Waterproofing Layer layer Manufacturer waterproofing manufacturer Bamboo Panel Manufacturer bamboo panel manufacturer

Parametric Skinskin Design parametric design Site Supervisor site supervisor Technical Consultant technical consultant

Bamboo Panel Manufacturer

Waterproofing Layer Manufacturer

Steel Structure Manufacturer

Timber Structure Manufacturer

Manufacturing Company

Landscape Design

Exhibition Design

Visual Communication Design: Gu Xin, Wang Zhigang

Visual Identity Design: Guan Yunjia

Lighting Design: Du Yi, Liu Xiaoxi

Installation Design: Shi Danqing, Xian Feng

Exhibition Design: Zhou Yanyang, Zhao Huasen, Li Caili

Landscape Design: Cui Xiaosheng

Interior Design: Wang Jiansong, Li Sa

Technical Consultant: Wang Changgang, Tu Shan, Liang Wen

169

Manufacturing Company manufacturing company Sustainable Design sustainable design

Interior Design

Landscape Design landscape design Curtain Wall curtain wall

Exhibition Design exhbition design

Interior Design interior design

Technical Consultant

Site Supervisor

Parametric Skin Design

Sustainable Design

Curtain Wall

MEP

Structure

Architecture

MEP mep

Structure structure

Architecture architecture

Collaboration Map

Exhibition, Landscape & Interior Design

2,600,000,000

Cost per ticket (Euros)

Individual country and cluster pavilions

Expo ambassadors

Cost of Milan Expo 2015 (Euros)

2,584

Expo Statistics

Square meters of PVC roof membrane

Project Statistics

168

Total visitors Tickets sold Expo Milano volunteers Days open Country participants Size of the pavilion grounds (hectares)

1,616 1,052 542 287 259 147 40 24 24 17 12

Aluminum panel frames Bamboo roof panels Days to design Roof panel types Days to build Number of models built Average number of minutes spent in China Pavilion Architecture team size Consultant team size Design team members Nationalities involved in design and construction

Design Director: Zhang Yue, Du Yi

Project Director: Su Dan

Full Design Services: Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University + Studio Link-Arc (New York)

Organizer: Expo Milano 2015

Client: China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

Design/Completion: 2013-2015

Project Area: 3975 sq.m

Site Area: 4590 sq.m

Program: exhibits, food service, theater, installations, retail, reception, meeting, office, etc.

Project Location: Milan, Italy

General Contractor: China Arts Construction and Decoration Company + Unique Europe + Bodino Engineering

MEP Engineer: Beijing Qingshang Environmental Art & Architectural Design + F&M Ingegneria

Enclosure Engineer: Elite Facade Consultants + ATLV

Structural Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger + F&M Ingegneria

Architect and Engineer of Record: F&M Ingegneria

Project Team: Mario Bastianelli, Alban Denic, Yihong Deng, Ivi Diamantopoulou, Shuning Fan, Yoko Fujita, Zachary Grzybowski, Chen Hu, Ching-Tsung Huang, Wei Huang, Elvira Hoxha, Chen Jin, Dongyul Kim, Hyunjoo Lee, Zifan Liu. Aymar MariĂąo-Maza, Frank Melendez, Jose Silva, Zhou Yuan

Project Manager: Qinwen Cai, Kenneth Namkung

Chief Architect: Yichen Lu

Project Name: The China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015

2

Expo in Italy

Architecture

17

Participating civil society groups and NGOs

Project Information

39

70

93

110

145

184

18,000

10,000,000

22,200,000

Timber Structure Manufacturer timber structure manufacturer Steel Structure Manufacturer steel structure manufacturer Waterproofing Layer layer Manufacturer waterproofing manufacturer Bamboo Panel Manufacturer bamboo panel manufacturer

Parametric Skinskin Design parametric design Site Supervisor site supervisor Technical Consultant technical consultant

Bamboo Panel Manufacturer

Waterproofing Layer Manufacturer

Steel Structure Manufacturer

Timber Structure Manufacturer

Manufacturing Company

Landscape Design

Exhibition Design

Visual Communication Design: Gu Xin, Wang Zhigang

Visual Identity Design: Guan Yunjia

Lighting Design: Du Yi, Liu Xiaoxi

Installation Design: Shi Danqing, Xian Feng

Exhibition Design: Zhou Yanyang, Zhao Huasen, Li Caili

Landscape Design: Cui Xiaosheng

Interior Design: Wang Jiansong, Li Sa

Technical Consultant: Wang Changgang, Tu Shan, Liang Wen

169

Manufacturing Company manufacturing company Sustainable Design sustainable design

Interior Design

Landscape Design landscape design Curtain Wall curtain wall

Exhibition Design exhbition design

Interior Design interior design

Technical Consultant

Site Supervisor

Parametric Skin Design

Sustainable Design

Curtain Wall

MEP

Structure

Architecture

MEP mep

Structure structure

Architecture architecture

Collaboration Map

Exhibition, Landscape & Interior Design

2,600,000,000

Cost per ticket (Euros)

Individual country and cluster pavilions

Expo ambassadors

Cost of Milan Expo 2015 (Euros)

2,584

Expo Statistics

Square meters of PVC roof membrane

Project Statistics

168