a first-prize Swedish pavilion proposal for play, participation and public culture
Swedish Pavilion | Shanghai Expo is a first-prize tender proposal for a 6,000 sqm Swedish pavilion in Shanghai, China. Developed around the idea of fun as a driver of social interaction, inclusivity and cultural exchange, the project translates the informal Swedish pastime of bum sliding into a public architectural experience.
The pavilion invites visitors to take part in a shared, playful and memorable event. Conceived as an artificial ice cube or iceberg, the building has a roofscape of snow-covered slopes where visitors can slide, gather, perform and watch events. The roof becomes both a playground and a public stage, combining sledding hills, an amphitheatre, an ice bar terrace, places to sit and routes back down to street level.
The facade is designed as an active surface where bum sliders are displayed and hung. Designed by Swedish designers, the sliders can be unhooked by visitors, used on the roof slopes and kept as souvenirs. The pavilion therefore becomes both a building and an exhibition in itself, combining visual landmark, cultural object, event platform and participatory experience.
The construction strategy uses inexpensive and recyclable materials to express Swedish values of openness, creativity, technical competence and environmental responsibility. The supporting structure is made from cross-laminated solid timber, while walls, roof surfaces, rain screens and climate screens are formed from recycled plastic slides. Artificial snow made from reusable super-absorbent polymers creates the winter landscape, while the watered bum-slide wall acts as a cooling climate screen around the timber volumes and forms a long, narrow queueing space for the exhibitions inside.
| Project Location | Shanghai, China |
| Project Type | Swedish pavilion, Expo pavilion, cultural pavilion, temporary architecture, exhibition space, public event platform |
| Project Description | First-prize Swedish pavilion proposal for the Shanghai Expo, using the idea of fun and the cultural pastime of bum sliding to create an inclusive public experience, exhibition environment and temporary architectural landmark. |
| Architect | UFO Architecture |
| UFO Architecture Team | Jonas Lundberg, Daniel Fagerberg, Kang Chun, Gustav Fagerström, Giorgia Cannici |
| Project Status | 1st prize tender, first concept phase; unrealized |
| Project Year | 2012 |
| Project Area | 6,000 sqm |
| Programme | Exhibition spaces, ice bar, public roofscape, sledding slopes, amphitheatre, terrace, performance platform and visitor queueing areas |
| Construction System | Cross-laminated solid timber supporting structure with recycled plastic slide elements used as walls, roof surfaces, rain screen and climate screen |
| Material Strategy | Recyclable low-cost materials, recycled plastic slides, reusable artificial snow made from super-absorbent polymers, timber structure and water-cooled climate screen |
| Design Focus | Swedish cultural identity, social interaction, inclusivity, play, public participation, temporary architecture, recyclable materials, timber construction, exhibition as experience, roofscape as public stage |
