USA PAVILION

2010 Shanghai Expo

LOCATION

Shanghai, China

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CLIENT

USA State Department

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ARCHITECT

Grout McTavish Architecture

Brad McTavish (Principal) 

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YEAR COMPLETED

2010

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COST

$50M USD

SIZE

60,000 sf enclosed area

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The USA pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 was intended to be approachable and accessible, significant and sophisticated – an urban building erected for our green-minded times. The pavilion was designed to accommodate 3,000 people an hour in cycles of 500 every 10 minutes. The heart of the experience is presented in two major film theatres.

The design is based on a very simple concept – that of creating a large “urban” treed plaza as a strong entrance experience and developing the architectural form in two non-symmetrical ‘wings’ flanking the plaza. This will be seen as a welcoming gesture as well as reminiscent of the spread wings of the American eagle.  “We wanted to send the message that America is committed to being accessible and welcoming to all and that we are more alike than we think.”