Structural design of the Spanish Pavilion for the Expo 2010 in Shanghai

The Spanish Pavilion for the Expo 2010 to take place in Shanghai, China, is the result of a strong collaboration between Architecture and Structure. Along with a striking wicker cover, the highly irregular, curved free form of the building designed by the architecture office Miralles/Tagliabue EMBT, is its main characteristic. A double mesh of steel tubes, adequately defined in order to optimize both its structural behavior and ease of manufacture and construction, forms the structural facade, which supports the wicker panels on the outside layer, and a glass curtain wall and blind cladding on the inside, as well as bearing the floors and roofs of the building. To precisely predict the performance of the structural system under wind load and earthquake actions, special analysis procedures were applied. Computational fluid dynamic analysis was performed to determine the complicated wind characteristics of the free form of the building. Response spectrum analysis of the structure was employed to predict the member forces and building deflections under earthquake. 3D time history analysis was also conducted under earthquake ground motions with local site features.