UK Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo – Seed Cathedral

The Seed Cathedral, the centrepiece of the United Kingdom Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, is shown under construction recently. The building is designed by Thomas Heatherwick, and inspired by the UK’s public parks and gardens to meet the Expo’s brief of ‘Better City, Better Life’. The 60ft-high cube-like construction is covered by 60,000 transparent acrylic rods filled with vegetable seeds, looks just like a huge dandelion, and that is why the name “Seed Cathedral” came.

The pavilion has cost £25million to build with the hope of updating Britain’s international image, since according to UKTI chief executive officer Sir Andrew Cahn, “The Chinese view of Britain is a rather old-fashioned one; it’s all to do with Britain as being a heritage country, a traditional economy – there’s an awful lot of cobblestones and fog.”