The Swiss Pavilion at EXPO Milan 2015
The participation of Switzerland at EXPO 2015 is based on a quite interesting interpretation of the theme of the consumption of food and water resources, a theme embodied in the pavilion conception itself.
The pavilion, built on an international competition-winning project by Netwerch architects, is composed of two structures: a cluster of four towers made in glass and metal, and a white building, named “The House of Switzerland”; a long timber ramp, on which several “multimedia periscopes” playing educational videos are disseminated, connects the various areas of the pavilion; the building complex has an overall floor area of 4,433 square meters and is made for the 75% of fully recyclable materials.
The towers of resources
The core of the Swiss exhibition is represented by the four transparent towers.
Each tower contains a pre-defined amount of a different resource: instant coffee, alpine salt, dried apple rings, and water. The visitors are allowed to take away all the products they want for free; although, in doing so, they cause the floor of each tower to lower progressively, so to physically express the concept that food and water resources are not unlimited and that their consumption requires awareness.
Above: inside the “Tower of Coffee”
Above: inside the “tower of water”, the digital display reports the remaining amount of water
Samples of the alpine salt and the dried apple rings the visitors can take away for free
Inside the “House of Switzerland” that, together with the towers, forms the pavilion, a restaurant serving Swiss specialties, an auditorium, an educational exhibition curated by Nestlè, a thematic exhibition on the cycle of water curated by the fours Gotthard cantons and information stand on the Swiss agriculture.
At the end of the EXPO, the towers will be demounted to be reassembled as greenhouses in various Swiss cities.
Photos © Inexhibit, 2015, all rights reserved