“Changing Faces” (变脸) is a traditional Chinese folk art. It consists of an artist swiftly changing masks, without the spectator noticing it. The designers of the Beijing pavilion for the World Expo Shanghai 2010 decided to take this concept one step further and apply it to their building.

The pavilion of the city of Beijing will be able to change appearance and look like four of the city’s landmarks: the Temple of Heaven (天坛), the Water Cube (水立方), the Bird Nest (鸟巢) and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (大剧院).

To realise this, the pavilion has been wrapped in panels of LED lights supported by movable arms. By changing their inclination and colours, these panels do the trick.

Traditional Changing Faces performance:

Chinese sources: 世博会北京馆采用LED屏实现变脸效果(组图); 上海世博会北京馆采用LED屏实现“变脸”