The Façade of the Swiss Pavilion at the Expo 2010 Shanghai
The Swiss pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be covered by a semi-transparent façade that will use cutting-edge solar technology to produce energy that will be released in LED flashes, thus making solar rays visible as a creative force.
The numbers and constellations of flashing LEDs and the length of time for which they emit light will vary according to the intensity and angle of the incoming light: the LEDs will flash singly, cast coloured shadows on the wall behind and move in swarms or other formations across the façade.
Due to the exceptional design and reactivity of the façade, Switzerland hopes to be seen as an innovative, technologically progressive and ecologically conscious country. When visitors approach and enter the pavilion, Switzerland’s vision of the city of the future will become clear: a hybrid, networked place in which nature and technology, innovation and sustainability will interact.
The façade, suspended from a height of 20 m, consists of a coarsely meshed wire-curtain on which 10’000 cells are fixed at irregular intervals.
Every cell contains a circuit board, the shape of which resembles the map of Switzerland, and electronic components that assure the façade’s interactivity: solar cells, two double-layered capacitors (especially powerful energy storage), one LED (Light Emitting Diode) and sensors that react to light and the nearby cells.
The solar cells generate power that is stored in the capacitors and that is discharged by the LEDs’ flashing. Thanks to the sensors this happens in response to incoming light, varying according to the light’s strength. If the intensity of incoming light increases on parts of the façade, the light sensors create an impulse that causes the LEDs in that area to flash. Depending on the intensity of the light, the cells flash for a shorter or longer period of time. The brightness of the LEDs varies depending on the charge and the luminosity of the surroundings.
The cells operate autonomously. However, their in-built microcontroller also causes a reaction between the cells: electromagnetic impulses during the flashing of each single LED influence the behaviour of the cells around them. A chain reaction ensues, with swarms of flashes moving across the façade. This makes an interconnectedness visible that is significant for the quality of life today and in the future.
After the end of the exhibition, the cells will be auctioned off as innovative gadgets and memorabilia. A corresponding text will provide information about the cells’ construction, function and meaning. That way, the façade will be directly re-used, carrying its message and the memory of an innovative, sustainability-oriented Switzerland into the households.
The façade on Chinese Center Television.
Swiss Pavilion
Press release iart for press conference on 29 April 2009 (in german)
Medie Façade Expo 2010 Shanghai
Temporary Exhibition
Duration: 1 May 2010 – 31 September 2010Project duration
2 yearsCustomer
Presence SwitzerlandClient
Consortium element design, Buchner Bründler ArchitektenServices iart
Conception, planning and design of media facadeMedia used
11.000 autonomous cells which react on environmental effects and on each otherProject team iart
Valentin Spiess, Project management, technical concept
Jeannine Spozio, Project coordination
Jinglei Zhang, Media planning
Denise Kratzer, Media planning
Rahel Stacher, Cell design
Matthias Buess, Scientific consultingPartner
tegoro solutions
Swiss Pavilion Expo 2010 Shanghai, Photo Mark Niedermann
Flash interaction between visitor and façade
Façade Swiss Pavilion from interior
Façade Swiss Pavilion
Cell without casing
Cell in development
First form study for cell