Milan | EXPO 2015 | Pavilion of Germany, Schmidhuber Architects

The Pavilion of Germany at EXPO Milan 2015

The German Pavilion at the EXPO 2015, in Milan, is entitled Fields of Ideas. On a floor area of 4,933 square meters, the pavilion presents various themes related to the sustainable use of natural resources, the richness of Germany’s land, its landscape, and its food products.

The pavilion has been conceived by the team ARGE, formed by Milla & Partner, responsible for the concept, the exhibition design, and the multimedia exhibits; Schmidhuber, which designed the architecture of the pavilion and Nüssli Deutschland, for the project management. Voss+Fischer is in charge of the program of events taking place at the pavilion.

The design of the pavilion is inspired by the morphology of the German territory, and especially by the cultivated fields that mark its landscape. Thus, the gently-sloped external area of the pavilion resembles a series of soft hills and is covered by tree-shaped large canopies, which also function as light and ventilation wells for the pavilion’s galleries, the canopies are also equipped with flexible photovoltaic cells.

The pavilion’s design pays special attention to carbon footprint: sustainable timber, natural ventilation, and state-of-the-art technological solutions have been widely adopted for both the building construction, the furnishing, and the exhibits.

Inside the pavilion, an exhibition featuring various themes related to earth, water, climate, biodiversity, agriculture, and food is housed on two levels. At the entrance, the visitors are provided with a leaflet-like card, named “seedboard”, with which they can interact with a series of digital tables distributed along the exhibition, which provide various information on the topics featured.

The exhibition skilfully combines architecture, physical elements, audiovisuals, and digital devices. The ground floor is marked by translucent cylindrical light-dwells that illuminate the galleries, and mark the different thematic sections, focused on the sustainable use of food and natural resources. On the upper floor, a colorful gallery depicts German cuisine and presents several edible plants coming from various German regions.

Above: a metaphorical reconstruction of a “supermarket” suggests a sustainable consumption of food and promotes resource use awareness.

At the pavilion, three different venues serve German dishes: a free-access food tasting area; a “gourmet” restaurant, and a more informal and traditional restaurant inspired by the German coziness, the Gemütlichkeit.
A garden roof, equipped with parasols, timber benches, plants, and shrubs, tops the pavilion, providing a relaxing and socializing space to the visitors.

The German pavilion in April 2015, photo @ NUSSLI Group / Nicolas Tarantino

Text by Riccardo Bianchini, Inexhibit.
Drawings: copyright Schmidhuber / Milla & Partner.
Except for the last photo, all photos © Inexhibit, 2015. All rights reserved.