The kirnu, or giant's kettle, that is the Finnish Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, was designed by Helsinki-based architects JKMM, who beat out more than 100 others for the privilege. Kirnu are geological features common to Finland, holes in the ground carved by glacial pressure.

The concept is of a miniature city, "presenting both Finland and its society to the world," with the pavilion itself emerging like an island from a watery surface. A bridge leads visitors over the water and into the pavilion (intriguingly, they tell us that the wooden floor here "resembles a dock and smells of tar"). At the heart of the pavilion is the miniature city’s center and forum for events, intended as a place for visitors to meet and mingle.

As with many of the Expo pavilions, there's an emphasis on sustainability, with building materials and construction methods selected to minimize Co2 emissions. The most striking example is in the pavilion's façade, whose scale-like shingles are made of a waterproof mixture of recycled paper and plastic.

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