China's World Expo pavilion demonstrates how cities and nature can exist in harmony

China has completed their World Expo 2015 pavilion on time and it is gorgeous.

Designed in collaboration between the Academy of Art & Design at Tsinghua University and New York-based Studio Link-Arc, the pavilion called "The Land of Hope" strives to demonstrate that the city and nature can exist in harmony.

It achieves this in part with structure capped with an undulating timber-framed roof with bamboo slats that traverses the full spectrum of China’s vast landscape — from the city in the north to its landscape in the south. Referencing vernacular Chinese architecture with its raised beam roof system, the pavilion features a field of ‘wheat’ with LED tips that create quite the visual spectacle.

The striking roof is covered in shingled panels reminiscent of terra-cotta roof construction. Made of bamboo, the roof provides shade to the public spaces beneath it. The project embodies the notion of the land or field of hope “through its undulating roof form, derived by merging the profile of a city skyline on the building’s north side with the profile of a landscape on the south side, expressing the idea that “hope” can be realized when city and nature exist in harmony,” according to a statement from Linc-Arc.

Visitors to the Chinese pavilion walk up a gently sloping ramp to a platform overlooking a field of 30,000 artificial wheat stalks that represent China’s long agricultural history. Topped with LED lights, the stalks become progressively taller as visitors move through the exhibition, while other agricultural elements are scattered throughout. After reaching the top, the viewer has the opportunity to turn back to reflect on the landscape, which glows with different colors.

Visitors also have access to interactive installations that depict the culture and food offerings from 40 Chinese provinces, and are also guided to a theater featuring a short film about China’s annual Spring Festival, when Chinese families hold festive reunions. At the very end, visitors land on a platform above the bamboo roof which overlooks the entire Expo grounds.