D|W      Is China the largest market outside of North America? What is your thoughts on timber structure's future in China?

L.E.       China is definitely the largest market outside North America. But what is missing is local manufacture which can produce good quality woods that can be used in large constructions. At present, the manufactury quality and level in China is 5-10 years lagging behind world standard. In this regard, Europe is leading, which is 20 years ahead of North America. That is why we purchased wood from Europe when building Tian fu. All the wood was shipped to China by rail. Because of Mr. Cui Kai, we have started projects collaborating with other key Chinese industry experts, such as Ton Ji University and China Architecture Design & Research Group. By sharing our knowledge, we hope local industry stakeholders can gain the skills and develop together with us.

D|W      Why would your firm take on such a bold and challenging design?

L.E.       We have collaborated in China previously, working with Delugan Meissl on the Tai Yuan Botanical Garden, which features 3 domes ranging from 43m to 88m in diameter and from 12m to 30m in height. The largest of the three domes is the longest clear-span timber gridshell (non-triangulated) in the world. It has won many prominent awards, including a Structural Award from the Institute of Structural Engineers. We realized the great potential of what timber can achieve as a structural material, which boosted our confidence that we were on the right path.

D|W      The Tianfu Agricultural Expo is the result of past cooperations  with Mr. Cui Kai ?  How did this journey start in the first place?

L.E.       Our firm StructureCraft has known Mr. Cui Kai for almost eight years now. My father and I visited Mr. Cui Kai in Beijing at that time. He showed us his studio as well as his designs and works. We really appreciated his dedication and devotion in promoting green architecture. China has a long history of using wood as constructural material. I have seen many old temples built with wood. In the past, huge tree logs were chopped down and used as a whole. Nowadays, we don't have big trees like before. Therefore we have engineered wood, which does not require such a big piece of wood. All we need is just small pieces of wood. By using Glulam or CLT, these wood pieces can be turned into ideal materials for construction, no ma tter big or small projects.

When Cui Kai presented his idea in our studio early on in the project, it encountered certain limita tions locally due to its challenge and ingenuity. Several local team members preferred to use concrete and steel structures. But the academician persuaded them and persevered, resulting in the beautiful project we see today.