Thematic Pavillon Expo 2012

Yeosu

structural engineering, special structures Services

SOMA Architect

Expo pavilion with bionic glass-reinforced plastic slat construction and drive kinematics

Project

The Expo theme for 2012 was “The Living Ocean and Coast” was dedicated to the sea as a habitat. In particular, the 2-fold experience of the sea as endless surface and depth, inspired inspired the architect. The One Ocean theme pavilion represented the centerpiece of the world exhibition in the South Korean port city of Yeosu. As a permanent landmark, the building has a gill-like media façade fitted with LEDs, which creates a design reference to the sea and controls the lighting of the pavilion to the sea and enables the building's lighting to be controlled. As a counterpoint to the virtual, multimedia productions in the pavilion, the architecture and in particular the kinetic façade create memorable experiences through analog means.

The topographical lines of the roof landscape are transformed into moving slats of the kinetic media façade based on bionic principles

Kinematic louvered structure

Over one hundred slats up to 14 meters high made of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) are controlled by actuators following a choreography. Each slat has a rigid and a fixed edge, which, in conjunction with the drives arranged at the top and bottom with the drives arranged at the top and bottom rotation through deformation of the slats and thus a and thus a visual relationship from the inside to the from the inside to the outside.