SPAN & Zeytinoglu Designs Austrian Pavilion For Expo 2010 Shanghai

The pavilion features a restaurant, gift shop, and VIP area in addition to its exhibition and office space.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 5/4/2010 12:00:00 AM

Photo by Maria Ziegelböck

With more than 240 participating countries, a budget of nearly four billion dollars, and 70 million visitors expected, Expo 2010 Shanghai is already the largest world exposition ever. Add to that the contribution of architects SPAN & Zeytinoglu who provided 10 million—porcelain tiles that is.


Photo by Maria Ziegelböck

The Viennese architects sheathed their home country's pavilion for the international exhibition, which began May 1 and runs through October 31, in the tiles, which change in color from red to white. The cladding of the complex pavilion exterior was made possible by the selection of tiny hexagonal modules by the architects, Matias del Campo, Sandra Manninger, and Arkan Zeytinoglu. The result is a shimmering surface area of 23,971 square feet that appears completely seamless despite being held together by 60 million joints.


Photo by Maria Ziegelböck

SPAN & Zeytinoglu were also responsible for the pavilion's interior, which features a restaurant, gift shop, and VIP area in addition to its exhibition and office space. The team made the info and shop desks, as well as the restaurant and the VIP area's bar, modular lounge, and reception desk, out of CNC-milled polyurethane coated with synthetic resin. The CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology they used was originally developed for the aviation industry and allows for the precise construction of digitally generated complex curved objects.


Photo by Maria Ziegelböck

"Although the objects have a value of their own, their integration into the architecture is essential[.] Spaces and objects form a symbiosis and enhance each other," says del Campo. "The Austrian pavilion directly reflects this practice," adds Manninger. "Its organic, curvilinear forms and the continuous flow between spaces [are based] on natural geometric systems."


Photo by Maria Ziegelböck