Biber Architects

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015

USA PAVILION
- MILAN EXPO 2015

Biber Architects

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

ARCHITECTS
Biber Architects

LOCATION
Milano, Italy

CATEGORY
Pavillion

PARTNER IN CHARGE
James Biber FAIA

AREA
3900.0 sqm

ARCHITECT OF RECORD
GLA Genisu Loci Architettura S.r.l.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

PROJECT YEAR
2015

ENGINEERING
ESA Engineering

EXHIBIT DESIGNER
Thinc Design

STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS
SCE Project

LIGHTING DESIGN
Tillotson Design Associates

LANDSCAPE DESIGN
dlandstudio

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Pentagram

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

Text description provided by architect.

Defining an entire nation in a single building, especially one as complex and contradictory as the US, is a daunting task.

The USA Pavilion for Expo Milano showcases America’s unique role in the future of food and hosts a global conversation about the challenge of feeding more than 9 billion people by 2050.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

Expo Milano 2015 is themed “Feed the Planet, Energy for Life” – an entire Expo focused on the issues of global food security and the impacts of our personal food choices.

“American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet,” tells America’s food story – one of innovation, diversity and entrepreneurship – through topics including food security and policy, international relations, science and technology, nutrition and health, and culinary culture.

The pavilion participates in the conversation by acting as a scaffolding for ideas, and by embracing and displaying some very American hybridizations: analog and digital, natural and technological, innovative and recycled.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

On the extremely long and narrow site, defined by the unusually urbane masterplan, the pavilion is bounded by an analog wall (containing elevators, escalators, stairs, mechanical shafts, etc.); a purely digital roof (glazed in SPD SmartGlass that instantly switches from clear to opaque to respond to environmental conditions)

A green Vertical Farm (employing hydroponic towers in a motion driven array); and a promenade rising through the pavilion made from salvaged Coney Island boardwalk.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

Unlike most pavilions historically, and recent US Pavilions in particular, American Food 2.0 is an invitation to enter a visible and transparent open public forum.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

The pavilion is characterized by openness, transparency, and accessibility. It is composed of sustainable design elements and with myriad references to American culture.

Rather than a forced march through a fixed exhibition (as in the last Expo) the pavilion has a variety of experiences; a self-guided and flexible space, as well as a traditional linear exhibition.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

The building is a 'farm industrial' inspired structure embracing both simple, industrial agricultural architecture and advanced technology in a very American amalgam of opposites.

Open for the six month Expo, the building will then be dismantled and will be reused as well as recycled, as required by the International Bureau of Expositions.

USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
© Saverio Lombardi Vallauri

It may be an oxymoron of sustainable design, but is a bold act of public diplomacy to be seen by an estimated 25 million people.


USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Plans 1
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Plans 2
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Plans 3
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Plans 4
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Plans 5
USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
Diagram


USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
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USA Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
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Biber Architects
T +1 212 6837071
Biber Architects
233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279, United States