EXPO 2000, Hannover, Germany

A collaboration with the architect, Uwe Bruckner, on the design of a building that created a 7-story tall tornado. The pavilion was sponsored by the German recycling company, Duales Systems. The circular shape of the building and air turbines integrated into the spiral ramps and ceiling were designed to sculpt the air in the central atrium into a 75-foot (23 meters) tall vortex. The vortex was made visible by fog pumped through the floor and illuminated by a combination of natural light and electronically controlled lights that slowly cycled through various colors. The membrane of the building opened and closed every ten minutes, causing the ambient light levels to slowly rise and fall. The circular forms of the architecture, the swirling vortex and the rhythmic lightening and darkening of the space, all related to the underlying design theme of “cycles”. Visitors to the pavilion also walked in a cyclical path, slowly ascending a spiral ramp that offered close viewing of the vortex from many different heights and vantage points and then descending a spiral staircase. Completed in May 2000.