The Poem Pavilion (UK)
Words by Bailey de Vries
Five days into our trip, the Expo feels just as vast. You could wander for days and still not see all that the grounds have to offer. Looking back, one pavilion in particular resonated with me deeply as an exceptionally magnificent structure and design experience. Located in the Opportunity District, the UK Pavilion, also known as the Poem Pavilion, blossoms out of the horizon.
Envisioned by leading artist and designer Es Devlin, the first woman designer of the UK pavilion since 1851, Britain stands as a cultural gathering arena, with an influx of assembling and blending ideas and languages from across the globe. The design strikes as a conical giant wooden instrument, with each essential part exhibiting words input by visitors. Integrating advanced machine learning algorithms aids in generating the cumulative collective poem that illuminates upon the twenty-meter diameter facade.
I have been following Devlin since her appearance on the Netflix design series ‘Abstract’ and seeing her work in motion was a graceful performance of inclusivity, process, and perseverance.
The Poem Pavilion is just a single example among the vast array of sculptural spaces that exude a breathtaking display of the creativity, innovation, conviction, and sheer scale of human-centric design that touches people’s hearts from all over the world.
To learn more take a virtual tour of a few of my favorite pavilions below:
Photo Cred – Arch Daily