Finnish pavilion at Shanghai World Expo to be ready in time, despite construction errors

Hundreds of shingles need to be replaced

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Hundreds of faulty shingles used in the cladding of Kirnu (referred to in English as “Giant’s Kettle”, although the word translates as “churn”), the Finnish pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, are to be replaced by the time the Expo opens at the beginning of May.
      A Chinese construction company has installed some of the shingles incorrectly, so that they come out of the outer wall about one centimetre too far.
      “The Chinese have promised to fix their mistake at their own expense”, says Jouni Lehtonen, head of construction at Finpro.
      Some shingles near the building’s windows will also have to be changed. Their backgrounds were painted black, as called for by the original design, but when the scaffolding was removed, the shade was seen to be too dark.
     
At least about 200 transparent shingles need to be exchanged for ordinary ones. “The repair plan has already been made, but we will try to push the cost of the repair downwards”, Lehtonen says.
      The facade of Kirnu has about 26,000 shingles. The pavilion has been built with haste, because the schedule was six months shorter than the one for the Hanover World Expo in 2000.
      From the point of view of the image of Finland, we would need to achieve as good quality as possible”, says the pavilion’s main designer, architect Teemu Kurkela.
     
The interiors of the pavilion are almost ready, and painting begins today, Friday. The floor is to have images of 40 giant burbots, 14 metres in length, covered by glass in such a way that the fish appear to be swimming under ice.
      Office personnel will move into the new building at the beginning of April.
      Only the sauna might be delayed, as the stove and its log cage left Finland later than planned.
      The third floor of the pavilion has space for 160 guests for lunch and dinner. The exhibition floor has three large screens with video programming on Finnish higher education, welfare, and environmental know-how.
     
On the ground floor of Kirnu Finnish products are to be on sale. There will be between 35 and 40 guides on duty, half of whom are Finns who speak Chinese, and the other half are Chinese who have studied in Finland.
      A large turnout is expected in Kirnu, which is located right next to the Metro station, and an aerial bridge leads directly to the building.
      The pavilion has already attracted a good amount of attention. A local survey found that it is considered the third-most interesting exhibition area at the Expo.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  JKMM Architects win 1st and 3rd prizes in Shanghai Expo 2010 Finnish pavilion competition (7.10.2008)

Links:
  Shanghai Expo 2010
  Finpro: Finland at Expo 2010

Helsingin Sanomat