We have seen buildings made from recycled materials-- but this is 3 stories high!
The EcoARK Pavilion in Taiwan is built largely out of recycled plastic bottles, about 1.5 million of them, making it the world's first fully functional large scale plastic building.
It was the centerpiece for the Taipei International Flora Exposition that ran from November of 2010 until April of 2011.
It weighs 50 percent less than a conventional building, yet it is strong enough to withstand hurricanes, typhoons -- even fire!
The EcoARK pavilion is hailed as a new benchmark for the future of green buildings. It is astounding to see an experimental building on this massive scale, and consider the engineering and imagination that went into making this a viable and safe structure for the public.
If they make it work at this scale, imagine how much else can be done with these building techniques?
--Bibi Farber
This video was produced by the BBC during the construction phase.