area 110 | expo 2010 shanghai

architect: JKMM Architects

location: expo 2010 shanghai - zone C

year: 2010

The Finnish pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 is called Kirnu (“Giant‘s kettle”). Designed by JKMM, an architect‘s office in Helsinki, Kirnu won first prize in the design competition announced in May 2008, which received 104 entries in all. The Finnish pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 portrays our country in miniature, presenting both Finland and its society to the world. The aim of the pavilion‘s sculptural architecture is to create visions of freedom, creativity and innovation for the future. The pavilion will rise from the water as an island-like miniature city. A bridge leads visitors over the water into the pavilion, the heart of which consists of the miniature city’s centre and a forum for events, “Kirnu”, where ideas can meet and mix.
The architecture of the pavilion draws its inspiration from Finnish nature. Elements of nature are reinterpreted in the pavilion, like the shape of small rocks found on coastal islands, the surface of a fish, reflections on water, a framed view of the sky and the smell of tar on wood. Like nature, the pavilion offers a quiet refuge from busy city life for anyone who wishes to enter.
Experience
The pavilion floats over water, white and ethereal. A thin film of water cools the air flow around the pavilion. The delicate, scale-like surface structure is gradually revealed when approaching the building. A smooth bridge leads towards the entrance, whose warm wood surfaces form a shady and inviting portal to the pavilion. Visitors next arrive at the forum, Kirnu. Sheer walls made of fabric rise towards the sky. The displays and lighting fixtures integrated into the floor create a virtual exhibition that visitors walk over. A gently sloping ramp ascends within the thick walls of Kirnu towards the exhibition hall, a high space that winds around the atrium. After the exhibition hall, the ramp continues downward to the exit, shop and restaurant.

Teemu Kurkela  (born in 1966) is the CEO of JKMM Architects since 1998. He studied architecture at Columbia University, New York  and at Helsinki University of Technology. Currently, he is designing the Finnish Pavillion for the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai in China and Moby Dick Cultural Center in Vantaa Finland. With JKMM Architects, his recent work include Turku City Library and Verkatehdas Factory Cultural Center.  JKMM Architects has a long track record in high quality built work and architectural competitions. The office has won prizes in nearly 50 architectural competitions, including ca. 20 First Prizes.  Teemu Kurkela is a lecturer in the School of Architecture, Helsinki University of Technology. He was the chairman of the Architectural Competition Board, Union of Finnish Architects in 2001-2004. Teemu Kurkela is the Board Member of the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Chairman of Advisory Board in Finnish Architectural Review. Teemu Kurkela has received several awards for his work. Awards include Finnish State Award for Architecture 2007, Finnish Steel Structure Award 2007, Finnish Glass Structure Award 2007, Finnish Concrete Structure Award 2007, Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award 2006 and Pietilä Award 2006.