Summering in Shanghai

For me, Shanghai has always carried visions of exotic China- that of the candied crab apples and vivid colored silks more than the supra-modern, fashion forward world capital it has become. And now to prove that point to everyone- Shanghai is holding their World Expo 2010 which has been open since May and runs through October.

"Better City – Better Life" is the theme of Shanghai's expo and Shanghai hopes to create their new status in the 21st century as the "next great world city". Drawing in over 190 countries and 50 world organizations, Shanghai has prepared the largest expanse in history for a world expo, measuring just over 5 kilometers- square. That's twice the size of my little town of Sausalito!

And of course- the pavilions are the bomb. With countries around the world trying to out-cool one another, there are many definite stand-outs that will certainly be influential for years to come. World Expos have historically set new architectural trends, and I will be excited to see how this robust display of construction-meets-art influences our vision of structures, commercial and otherwise.

Here, a few of the pavilions that have already sent shock-waves through the world of design-

UK PAVILLION

(UK pavilion)

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The first is my favorite, created by Thomas Heatherwick -my new design crush. Heatherwick's RIBA award-winning UK pavilion called "the seed cathedral" is as good as it gets. From the most amplified of vantage points down to the itsy-bitsiest of details, I can't stop looking at the thing. And then once you know the story of the how and mostly the why, I challenge you to not have your own Heatherwick crush. Click here for his cool video detailing the cathedral and its more than 60,000 rods stemming from the surface creating a fiber-optic skin that illuminates the interior. The rods, like quills, actually quiver in the breeze. I loooove that.

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LUXEMBOURG PAVILION

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I should whisper this, and only to my closest friends. But I'm not a fan of Frank Gehry. OK I said it. I'd say more, but perhaps many of you wouldn't log on again. Call it my own personal feng shui thing- but I generally don't like buildings that don't exhibit at least one 90' angle. So I'm including Luxembourg's Gehry-esque pavilion to streeeetch outside my prejudice and mostly because I'm all about gold right now!

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AUSTRIAN PAVILION

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(austrian pavilion)

The Austrian pavilion was created by famed Viennese architects SPAN & Zeytinoglu. It wasn't the design that caught my attention, though it was interesting enough. But any structure ribald enough to use 10 million porcelain tiles, has completely got my vote.

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DANISH PAVILION

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(danish pavilion, including bicycles)

Designed by Copenhagen's BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, the Danish pavilion takes on a velodrome feel with the spiraling architecture and the provision of 300 bicycles completing the Danish experience.

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SWISS PAVILION

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The Swiss pavilion is a celebration of the red and white Swiss flag on it's exterior contrasted with the interior based on their "rural-urban interaction". Adding vegetation to building interior and exterior vertical planes, is currently all the rage. I've always been a fan of Ivy covered anything, and this architectural trend has been catching my interest since I first spotted it a couple of years ago. I predict we're going to see a lot more of this green treatment turning concrete jungles back into, well- concrete/jungles.

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SPANISH PAVILION

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SOUTH KOREAN PAVILION

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