The design of the Swiss Pavilion for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai is unveiled yesterday.
ROOFTOP gardens, Chinese philosophy and a spiralling cable-car ride all helped to get Switzerland's World Expo design the thumbs up from event organizers yesterday.
"It's vanguard stuff and looks like a prediction of the future," said Lou Chenghao, a researcher with the Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Design Group, which oversees the Expo's national pavilions.
The Swiss blueprint, which was unveiled yesterday, shows a structure that mimics a map of the European country and contains elements of the Chinese concept of "yin" and "yang" - contrasting but complimentary principals.
This concept is most visible in the design's winding cable-car ride, which will take visitors from the dark of the pavilion's interior out to a stunning garden roof.
"A good pavilion should integrate national characteristics with modernity," said Lou. "Meanwhile, it should take environmental protection and energy-saving into consideration."
The pavilion will use high-tech semi-transparent material for its exterior decoration and solar energy for its lighting.
The size of the structure was not announced but according to Expo rules, national pavilions cannot be more than six square kilometers.
Switzerland is the first country to unveil its national pavilion design for the 2010 event.
As most of the pavilions are temporary and will be pulled down after the event, organizers suggest countries use construction materials that can be easily installed and taken down.
Participating countries can start building their pavilions in November.
