Schmidt faced the task of communicating the unorthodox shapes to the formwork carpenters. Workers then mounted the templates directly onto plywood gang forms. The templates were used as a guide to locate the intersections of the curving and inclined planes making up the element's surfaces. The sunscreen will be made of 36 pairs of carbon-fiber finsconnected to two rotating steel spines in turn connected to the pavilion's spine. Eleven pairs of hydraulic cylinders, attached to the two rotating spines, will operate the fins.
Safety is the bigger concern.
Anemometers will keep an eye on wind forces. Initially, the sunscreen will be set to close automatically if gusts exceed 30 mph for three seconds or more. The fins, made up of varying numbers carbon fiber plies, each 11.4 mils thick and impregnated with resin, are the most extraordinary element of the assembly. The sunscreen has to be light in weight because it is the final element going onto the pavilion. Another advantage of a composite material, says Therson, is that the orientation of fibers can be controlled to achieve strength and stiffness where needed.