好色先生TV

About the scheme: This is an image of Thomas Heatherwick鈥檚 British Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010.

The 拢13m building will be decked in 60,000 acrylic rods.

Thomas Greenall鈥檚 verdict:

If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are to be believed, Heatherwick鈥檚 design for the UK鈥檚 offering at the 2010 Shanghai Expo will provide: 鈥渁 dramatic demonstration of creativity and innovation in the UK鈥�. Really? Maybe the FCO had failed to notice, on Heatherwick鈥檚 website, a slightly more diminutive version of the same concept in the form of Sitooterie II on Barnards Farm, Essex.

To take a rather pessimistic view of the situation, Heatherwick鈥檚 mantra, in this instance, seems not dissimilar to that of the UK鈥檚 volume housebuilders - take a design that has worked previously and then replicate it at the next given opportunity. That this is regarded as a demonstration of innovation can only mean that the FCO鈥檚 new green agenda places an additional emphasis on reuse and recycling.

This aside, the scheme seems somehow justified by the conviction of the faceted landscape, the folds of which give the impression that the surroundings have been imagined as the recently opened wrappings of a jewel-like sweet. Add to this a rather charming, albeit retrospectively considered, concept will undoubtedly afford a worthy experience for the visitor.

Whether, in fact, the images presented here can ever be translated into a the pavilion that they promise; whether the rather outmoded format of the world exposition has any validity, and whether 拢13.2m for a temporary building to house seeds can ever be justified in the current economic climate are, in my opinion, yet to be seen.

(Legacy plans for the building include using each of the 60,000 acrylic coffined seeds as an educational tool!)

Ian Douglas-Jones鈥� verdict: Heatherwick鈥檚 playful work pours out from a clearly unique kind of creative genius, where it seems nothing is impossible.

For his latest incarnation sculpture again meets architecture, in which there are gravity defying acts of the sublime.

So sculpture or architecture? Or are they the same? Or a bit of one in with the other鈥� aggghh who cares, it is what it is; beautiful.

If familiar with Heatherwick鈥檚 work, you might feel a recollective jolt at the sight of the Proposed British Pavillion, and imagine that his 2003 Sitooterie 2 was set in front of a crazy sci-fi enlarging ray鈥� with a 鈥榟oney I blew up the kid building鈥� mad scientist experiment.

So sculpture or architecture? Or are they the same? Or a bit of one in with the other鈥� aggghh who cares, it is what it is; beautiful

 

But wait鈥� If this is to be any bit as good as its younger sibling he can be forgiven, he could be onto something here鈥�

The folded landscape provides ample respect for the spiked urchin object, acting as both event space and perimeter shelter.

As for the urchin itself, If the blurb is true then the 60,000 wind quivering rods will be just mesmerizing.

Ingeniously, the rods allow light to penetrate the equally beguiling interior with dense bursts of light-tipped rods.

Internally there is a curious addition; the largest collection of wild seeds in the world, each seed displayed on the tip of each rod.

This apparently is 鈥榓 unique symbol of the UK鈥檚 role in worldwide conservation鈥�, if conservation really is the message then perhaps 60,000 15 foot transparent rods should have been scrapped for something a little more frugal?

Ummm, no. I just can鈥檛 help but love it, for what it is!

Form to programme? Meaning? What? The British pavilion is a true tour de force in sculptural possibilities, it doesn鈥檛 really matter what鈥檚 in it, and I have a sneaking suspicion that not many people will remember it as a symbol to the UK鈥檚 World conservation role, but rather for its hypnotic, beauty.

It does however raise the question of the point of these pavilions, does anyone really remember the content?

Or just what it looks like or does鈥� Diller and Scofidios Blur and Jean Nouvels Monolith a case in point.

In a 鈥檓y-dad鈥檚-better-then-your-dad鈥� type competition symptomatic of expos, then the British pavilion should win hands down.