GIGA blog recently spoke with Pius Leuba, head of a new one-year study program ‘Master of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Development in Architecture’ at the Life Quality Laboratory in Shenzhen. The Department of Architecture at the Bern University of Applied Sciences is the developer and administrator of the program.

Last week I was particularly excited by the news that the British Pavilion was completed when David Miliband inserted the last acrylic hair into the “Dandelion”, as it has been nicknamed by Chinese people. Officially named “Seed Cathedral” it is a fuzzy cube formed from 60,000 slender transparent rods, extending from the structure. During the day, the 7.5-meter long rods will act like fibre optic filaments, drawing in daylight to illuminate the interior. At night, light sources at the interior end of each rod will allow the whole structure to glow.

As the Expo descends closer, this month noticeably marked by the completion of the Chinese pavilion, the GIGA blog will be featuring stories about the Expo. Incredibly the Expo is the third largest event in the world (economic and cultural impact) after the World Cup and Olympics. The Expo has been around for one and a half centuries with the first one held in The Crystal Palace in London in 1851. Titled “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” it exhibited manufactured products.

December saw Copenhagen thrust into the global spotlight. The world watched in suspense to see whether the 193-nation and 45,000 participant United Nations conference would yield a new global agreement on climate change. The outcome was disappointing to say the least - with delegates simply "taking note" of a climate deal that recognised the need to limit temperature rises to 2C.