Zoomlion Exhibition Center

The Zoomlion Exhibition Center is a shape-shifting building designed by California firm amphibianArc.  The exhibition center has a unique double-skin system:  an inner skin that takes care of the enclosure and building systems, and an outer skin which can be opened or closed to mimic animal forms.  From an ordinary box, the north façade can transform into an eagle and a butterfly, and the south façade can fold into a swimming frog.  Those animal shapes were chosen from the traditional Chinese symbolism for leadership (eagle), ephemerality and fragility (butterfly), and prosperity (toad).  The material for the skin is steel and glass, which creates a light yet sturdy structure that also conceals the hydraulics that move it.  The pattern of the façade is derived from the wing patterns of butterflies and dragonflies.

The four-storey, 10,000 square-meter piece of architecture is due to be built in Zoomlion’s Technology Park in Changsha, Hunan Province in China.