German pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 by Schmidhuber + Kaindl

Germany will represent the project of the Munich office Schmidhuber + Kaindl at next year's World Expo in Shanghai, which was selected from five competing designs in April 2008. The motto of the German pavilion, within the main theme of Expo “Better City, Better Life”, has the subtitle “Balancity – a city in balance between regeneration and preservation, innovation and tradition, urbanity and nature, community and individuality, work and leisure, globalization and national identity”. The final form of the pavilion significantly differs from the competition design from 2008, which was sharply criticized by the German Federal Chamber of Architects at the time. The external form, derived from the title of the exhibition “Balancity”, is described by its authors as the search for “balance in architecture”. The pavilion appears to balance freely above the surrounding landscape, with masses appearing both solid and freely floating. The interplay of all the elements creates a stable balance, emphasizing their diversity and polarity, while the composition radiates liveliness and constant change.
The authors add to their design: “Urban space and its densification is a current topic in urban planning in both Germany and China. The German pavilion represents new urban trends in which urban space and open landscape intermix. Visitors move through a dynamic, three-dimensional urban space with diverse visual relationships and an exciting spatial effect.” Info>