Mike Smith Studio

Signage
Open City, Green City, Living City,
Final installation photos credit: Katarina Stuebe

Mike Smith Studio worked with Thomas Heatherwick, Mace, Troika and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to create elements of the British Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo.

We created large boards, made from uPVC coated in cementitious latex, and CNC routed maps of UK cities into the surface. We then had the exact same maps laser cut from Astroturf to highlight how much green space UK cities contain.

We also constructed ‘Light Rain Engines’ – individual lights which projected ‘ripples’ onto the floor below, giving the impression of rain falling on water.

The hollow resin buildings were made by carefully creating models, creating rubber moulds, then casting the Crystal Clear resin into them. They were arranged into ‘roads’ and suspended from the overhand of the pavilion.