Ten Years Ago a vision realized: Padiglione Italia

Expo 2015, (IT) Milan
2015
Completed
Exhibits

The pavilion showcased Italy's creative entrepreneurship and offered an immersive, sensory experience that connected tradition and modernity.

EXPO 2015 united 140 countries under the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life." Italy's pavilion, "Vivaio Italia," served as an incubator for innovative, sustainable projects, fostering dialogue between visitors and visionary Italian minds. Centered around four themes—Workmanship, Beauty, Future, and Limits—the exhibition showcased Italy's creative entrepreneurship, highlighting agronomists, farmers, and innovators from 22 regions.

Design by Giò Forma and Balich Wonder Studio and Consorzio Orgoglio Brescia, The pavilion, through its refined surface textures and the gradual dematerialization of the volume upwards, evokes an urban forest. The four closed blocks defining the exterior shape also serve as the backdrop for the large central plaza—covered by a photovoltaic glass sky—which serves both as a welcoming space for visitors and the starting point for the exhibition route.

The exhibition route unfolds across four levels, allowing visitors to explore the interior of the building, which, during the Universal Exposition, hosts the exhibit on Italian Identity. The exhibit showcases "Italian Powers": stories of excellence in innovative business creation; beauty, through landscapes and architectures displayed in a gigantic kaleidoscope; tales of those who have excelled in agriculture even in geographically and logistically challenging conditions; and finally, a nursery of 21 plants representing the Italian regions.

The pavilion, inspired by the market as a symbol of Italian identity, offered an immersive, sensory experience that connected tradition and modernity.

ph courtesy of Enzo Laiacona

Visitors in a mirrored room where screens show an arcaded Italian courtyard, reflected endlessly – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Exhibition room with a botanical ceiling mural, illustrated plant floor tiles and tree-shaped wooden tables – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designDetail of branching wooden table supports holding round portrait cards in the pavilion exhibition – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Dark exhibition hall with a backlit lattice column shaped like the Tree of Life and its projected outline – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designInterior of Palazzo Italia: white sculpted stair bridges crossing the atrium between perforated walls – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Room with a painted foliage ceiling, white undulating planters with plants and botanical floor tiles – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designPlayroom with a giant painted plant canopy on the ceiling and fruit-shaped soft seats on green carpet – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Faceted wooden figures of people walking across a sculpted timber landscape, lit warm from the side – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designRow of faceted wooden human sculptures striding over angular plywood terrain in raking light – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Exhibition space with paper-layered tree-like columns, white chairs and tablets under glass domes – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Glass sphere holding green plants, surrounded by projected floating letters on a dark background – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designClay vase with golden branches and projected lines of text and light roots on a black background – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Faceted human figures on a rocky wall covered in a colourful starry projection – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Raised relief map of Italy and the Mediterranean on an oval wooden base, with a curved timber bench – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition designCurving wooden walkway over a bed of rubble, with the bilingual text The strength of beauty on the wall – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design
Mirrored room with screens showing a colourful cliffside seaside village, reflected on every surface – Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, Milan, Italy – exhibition design