Spanish Pavilion for the Expo 2010 in Shanghai

Abstract

The Spanish Pavilion for the Expo 2010 in Shanghai is the result of a close collaboration between Architecture and Structure. Along with an unusual wicker cover, the highly irregular curved free form of the building designed by the architecture office Miralles-Tagliabue EMBT, is its main characteristic. A double mesh of steel tubes, adequately defined in order to optimize both its structural behaviour and ease of manufacture and construction, forms the structural facade, which supports the wicker panels on the outside layer and a glass curtain wall on the inside, as well as bearing the floors and roofs of the building. The design process required special analysis procedures and specific software to be developed, as well as a good coordination between the architecture and engineering teams. The manufacture and construction required as well new and original processes in the curving, cutting and welding of the tubes, together with accurate and fast assembly procedures on-site, which allowed the remarkable building to be finished on a very short time.