'Sparkling Chair' by Marcel Wanders for Magis

At this year’s Milan Fair the Italian manufacturer Magis will present some extraordinary pieces: ‘Sparkling Chair’ by Marcel Wanders lives up to its name – it is produced in blow moulded PET and indeed the legs slightly remind of water bottles.

‘Spun’ by Thomas Heatherwick is not as genuine concerning its material. At a first glance the chair looks like a ceramic bowl, in fact it is made from rotational moulded polyethylene. Nevertheless it is a beautiful spatial element, especially when you imagine it in a large number.

'Spun' chair by Thomas Heatherwick

more Magis products @ Architonic

UK pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010 by Thomas Heatherwick

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office reveals updated designs for the UK pavilion that will represent this country at Shanghai Expo 2010; its theme being ‘Better City, Better Life’.  Developed by one of the UK’s leading creative talents – Thomas Heatherwick – the UK pavilion will provide a dramatic demonstration of creativity and innovation in the UK.

The six-storey pavilion is pierced by 60,000 transparent rods.

The centrepiece of the UK’s offering is the extraordinary pavilion building – a six storey high object formed from some 60,000 slender transparent rods, which will extend from the structure and quiver in the breeze.  During the day, each of these 7.5m long rods will act like fibre optic filaments, drawing on daylight to illuminate the interior, thereby creating a contemplative awe-inspiring space.  At night, light sources at the interior end of each rod will allow the whole structure to glow.  The pavilion will sit on a landscape looking like paper that once wrapped the building and that now lies unfolded on the site.  The landscape provides an open space for public events and shelter for visitors making their way into the pavilion structure.

The surrounding faceted landscape provides space for public events and also offers shelter for visitors.

Inside the pavilion building is a unique visual representation of the UK’s leading role in conservation worldwide – Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership – the largest collection of wild plant seeds in the world. By encasing tens of thousands of seeds into the ends of the transparent rods, visitors will be able to view examples of seeds of plant species that contribute to national and global conservation programmes. The seeds have been sourced from the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences in China – a partner in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Project. The seeds being used are taken from stocks that are both plentiful and readily available. They will create a stunning image of an alternative World Bank, into which is embedded the potential of life.

Thomas Heatherwick @ Architonic

to Shanghai Expo 2010