UK Pavilion Ready for Shanghai Expo

Thomas Heatherwick has completed the Seed Cathedral, the centrepiece of the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo site, in Shanghai, China.

Nicknamed the ‘Dandelion’, the six-storey structure is covered with 60,000 translucent rods that channel sunlight into the pavilion’s interior.

By night the interior is illuminated by minute lighting elements contained within each rod, each measuring 7.5 metres.

The area surrounding the pavilion features a network of pedestrian walkways and a landscaped park area.

Each rod contains seeds from Kew Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank, which will be given to China by the UK to create living forests in the future.

The 2010 Shanghai Expo will begin in May, according to inhabitat.com.