Taipei Floral Expo Butterfly Pavilion Appears on Stage-- One Earth, Many Magnificent Worlds

TAIPEI,Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In preparation for sponsoring the 2010 Taipei International Gardening and Horticulture Exposition, Taipei City Government started the construction of exhibition pavilions in 2008. With the big event approaching closer, the EXPO Hall, also known as Butterfly Pavilion, is the first exhibit hall accomplished. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and famous model Lin Chi-ling, who has been invited to be a public information ambassador to help promote the grand event, announced on Nov. 6 the countdown of one year to the Expo opening at the newly built pavilion. Mayor Hau said the EXPO Hall will start the trial run ahead of schedule for people to be familiar with the expo site.

“The architect hopes that we will try our best to overcome all obstacles, and we had actually done curvature’s concavity”

King Shih Architects, designer of the EXPO Hall, said the idea of “One Earth , Many Magnificent Worlds” is aimed to show thoroughly the special features of Taipei, Taiwan and this era through the architecture design of both the EXPO Hall and Pavilion of Aroma of Flowers as well as areas in the Fine Arts Park Area.

People passing by the Fine Arts Park Area in recent days can see the chrysalis-like EXPO Hall sitting quietly in the park like a butterfly waiting to come out of its chrysalis and become more expectant of the coming exposition. “When we tried to get involved in preparing for the Taipei Expo, we thought that since the flora exhibit could be held anywhere in the world, how should we create special features of the exposition to be sponsored by Taipei City? We then got the idea of making the expo closely connected with our city. We called it “One Earth, Many Magnificent Worlds,” hoping to show thoroughly the special features of Taipei, Taiwan and this era through our architecture design,” said Gene K. King, senior partner of King Shih Architects.

Architect Erin C. Shih, KSA senior partner in charge of designs, noted that since the whole structure design of the EXPO Hall, Pavilion of Aroma of Flowers and rest areas is quite unusual, “so we intend to express the idea that the three are parts of one big formation, and use bamboo ware as the main theme to show the special features of Taiwan.” The Butterfly Pavilion looks like a bamboo basket, chrysalis, bamboo scoop or ladybug, depending on the angle from which you look at the building. And the hexagon and triangle geometric patterns formed by the surface of the building and its sloping network create an image of many flying butterflies.

It is the first time Taiwan is authorized by an internationally recognized organization, the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), to sponsor the international flora exposition. Following the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, the expo will once again put Taiwan and Taipei City on the world stage. Wu Tsai-chin, Public Works Section chief of the Taipei New Construction Office, said construction companies had been reluctant to bid for the EXPO Hall building contract due to its limited budget and work duration as well as its unique pattern of structure. Finally Sansin Builders Co., Ltd. accepted the challenge after several public tenders failed to be awarded. Constructing the pavilion had been quite difficult because it is designed to be propped up by the whole structure, instead of using many conventional trusses. “The architect hopes that we will try our best to overcome all obstacles, and we had actually done curvature’s concavity,” said Bai Sheng-wen, Sansin’s director of EXPO Hall construction site.

Except for exhibiting symmetry, all steel pipes used to construct the pavilion have different curvature and length and are manufactured based on detailed calculations so as to build the special style in accordance with the architect’s design.

On the other hand, constructing the EXPO Hall had to use mobile elevating work platform frequently and, therefore, the building progress was affected by bad weather. So it was difficult to control the construction work duration.

The contracted work duration was 397 days but Sansin managed to shorten it by 20% after careful evaluation. In close coordination with the architect and Taipei New Construction Office, Sansin was able to examine the first batch of steel structure materials in factory 29 days after the construction work started, begin the assembling of steel structure 93 days later, and finish the assembling in 76 days, which was 80 days ahead of schedule. Thanks to the smooth building of steel structure, the construction project could be accomplished earlier than scheduled.

King Shih Architects said the accomplished EXPO Hall is very close to the computer-aided design and it is not quite easy for the actual work duration to be shortened by more than three months.

The structure of the new pavilion has the function of both natural ventilation and lighting, conforming to the hottest theme of sustained energy conservation nowadays. Due to the structure’s special design, temperatures inside the pavilion will be lowered during summertime, minimizing the use of air-conditioners to bring into full play the concept of environmental protection advocated by the Taipei Expo organizers.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Taipei Expo are scheduled to be held in the 1,200-seat pavilion, which provides the largest indoor space in the exposition site. The hall can also be used to host large-scale international cultural activities and artistic performances.

Taipei City Government earnestly invites residents throughout Taiwan to visit the horticultural Olympic event to be held in the exposition site bound by Yuanshan Park, the Taipei Fine Arts Park, Xinsheng Park and Da-jia Riverside Park from Nov. 6, 2010 to April 25, 2011, and see the world of green life at display inside the unique structure of the EXPO Hall.

Chinese translation: http://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/cvpread.aspx?ID=45271

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