The pavilions of the Expo are already being dismantled, the exhibition finished its work on October 31, and on the 30th the winners were announced, who were handed out medals of the World Exhibition. The awards are presented by the Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE). The Milan pavilions, which, according to the original Boeri-Herzog concept, might not have existed at all, in terms of architecture, turned out to be not at all as luxurious as in Shanghai (see Anna Bronovitskaya's story about the plans and what happened). And yet, the farewell awards are a good reason to remember what was done, looking at the exhibition this time through the eyes of its jury.
Quite a lot of awards were awarded, since there are three nominations: architecture, exposition and theme disclosure, and the pavilions, moreover, were divided into three types - more than 2000 m2, less than 2000 m2 and clusters. Clusters are the invention of the Milan World Expo, they are thematic groups that have allowed many small and poor countries to unite and engage in participation. The clusters did not participate in the architectural competition, and yes in the other two. There were sixteen awards. Let us recall that the exhibition, which was planned as a vegetable garden, and which turned out to be in many ways a very decorated vegetable garden, was devoted to food, and the theme sounded like this: “Feed the planet. Energy for life."
Architecture: pavilions> 2000 m2
Gold: France
Anouk Legendre, X-TU architects;
Nicola Martinoli and Luca Varesi, ALN Atelien Architecture; Adeline Rispal
Topic: "Different ways of food production and storage"
The French turned
his pavilion looked like a market: from the ceiling in cells of a flexible, and rather beautiful design of wooden cells, bundles of herbs, bottles, pans and other things hung tightly, which could indeed be suspended from the market ceiling. A small prototype market was organized in the center of the pavilion, which is not surprising, almost all the pavilions of the Expo traded in something edible, it seems, only Russia and Switzerland were treated to it. So the commentary on the gold medal sounded like this: "for the innovative concept of the pavilion as a food market." All this, both the idea of the market and the gold medal of the exhibition, are not surprising, there are few products in the world that are better than French ones, and few things in the world are more charming than the French market, except that the Italian market. In addition, a large grocery market is called les halles (aka marche) in French, and this name reminds of the most important Parisian market Les Halles, rebuilt in the early seventies at the initiative of Jacques Chirac into a large shopping center with a swimming pool and an underground TPU. At that time, not everyone agreed with the reconstruction, and what happened was not very beautiful, and now the pavilion is an indirect reminder of the lost Les Halles.
Many plants were grown on the roof and ceilings. The open architecture of the pavilion with carved corners inviting entry from all sides was, however, destroyed by its administrators: formally, the pavilion could only be entered by going through a labyrinth of dumpy vineyards, which should remind not only of French wine, but also of the tourist attraction, the vineyards of Montmartre. Visitors strove to climb over the fences, but they were driven away as best they could.
Silver: Bahrain
Anne Holtrop, Anouk Vogel
Topic: "Archeology of Green"
A white, modest and seemingly subtle factory pavilion contained within a botanical garden of mature trees that bore different fruits in each of the six months of the exhibition, demonstrating the richness of the nature of a country where lush and varied greenery grows in oases among dry lands … For a change, the exhibition was supplemented with archaeological exhibits. The pavilion will be relocated to Bahrain and will serve as a botanical garden there.
Bronze: China
Tsinghua University, Qingshan Institute of Environment, Architecture and Design in Beijing
Theme: "Land of Hope, Food for Life"
The bent beams of the pavilion, the architecture of which was supposed to resemble traditional Chinese, turned out to be consonant with the design of the French pavilion, awarded with a gold medal, as if there was even a tendency here. They also got inside through a labyrinth, but not from grapes, but sharp-smelling velvet. The walls as such at the Chinese pavilion were also not everywhere, and it was possible to watch the light and music on the field of luminous lanterns while breathing in the fresh wind - also almost the same as in the French pavilion. The exposition, however, turned out to be quite extensive and complex; there was a place in it for both primitive graffiti and clay peasants, similar to the army of Qin Shi Huang.
Architecture: pavilions <2000 m2
Gold: UK
Wolfgang Buttress
Topic: "Grown in Britain and Northern Ireland"
Full of metaphors, the pavilion was supposed to resemble a bee hive working on innovative ideas to feed the planet. The symbolic hive is a sphere with a diameter of 17 m, made of more than 180,000 aluminum elements. He buzzed quite like a bee, and the approaches are also a maze, planted with herbs at eye level to make out every daisy.
Silver: Chile
Christian Undurraga
Theme: "Love for Chile"
A truss-like grille surrounded the pavilion, giving it a clean engineering look from the outside and providing a buffer space for the side ramps. The entire structure was placed on four concrete supports, supported along the perimeter by beams of metal I-beams.
Bronze: Czech Republic
architectural bureau "Chybik + Kristof"
Topic: "Laboratory of Life"
The Czech pavilion is of very calm architecture, decorated with even rows of white lamellas. The sculpture in the pond in front of the pavilion: half bird, half car - symbolized the coexistence of nature and technology in the modern world. Inside, the camera broadcast on the screen the micro-life of a piece of Central European forest with paprotniki, a map of Czech sights was presented nearby, and draft beer was sold by the pool. All materials of the building will be reused, however, now this is implied by the rules of the exhibition.
And who was not awarded. Norman Foster, whose pavilion, which looks like a dune of red clay, will be transported to the city
Masdar, the world's first zero-balance city.
*** Pavilion Zero, designed by Michel de Lucchi, who decided it in the form of several giant cones of a completely African look, will remain on the site of the exhibition, however, inspired by the Euganean Hills from the vicinity of Padua. The curator of the exhibition was David Rampello, who dedicated it to an inexhaustible theme: the history of man's struggle against hunger. Those who enter are greeted by a multi-storey model of the catalog in the spirit of a mature, or maybe late Renaissance, consisting of a lot of wooden boxes surrounded by arches, columns and sculptures. The courtyard is, on the contrary, rather African, with a large artificial baobab tree, predictably depicting the world tree.
Also, there is another world tree - the column, and the pavilion - "palazzo" of Italy.
The dismantling of the exhibition began on November 2, but 54 pavilions will be reassembled at home and elsewhere. For example, the Swiss pavilion will be disassembled into separate parts, each of which will become an urban greenhouse in different cantons. The pavilions of Bahrain, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates will return to their native countries in their original form.
Some objects will become representative offices of social organizations in different countries. For example, the pavilion of the Kingdom of Monaco will house the headquarters of the Red Cross in Burkina Faso. Some objects of the projects "Kinder + Sport" and "Slow Food" will also be sent to African countries.
According to the rules of the exhibition, countries that do not intend to restore their pavilions are obliged to reuse their metal and wooden structures. So Italy bought the rare woods used in the construction of the pavilion from Malaysia.
Most countries have adopted the decision to leave individual symbols of their pavilions in Italy: the trees of the Austrian pavilion now grow in the forests near the city of Bolzano, and the unusual columns of the object representing Vietnam have been donated to the Alassio government. The pavilions of China, Germany, Thailand, Spain, Qatar and Uruguay are being completely dismantled.
Exposition: pavilions> 2000 m2
Gold: Japan
Atsushi Kitagawara, studio "Nendo", studio "Team Lab"
Topic: "Harmonious Diversity"
The main idea of the pavilion is a typical Japanese rice-based diet to help maintain human health. The pavilion itself is built like a traditional Kyoto house - wide entrance, horizontal orientation. The bamboo and wood used in the construction of the pavilions were combined with technological modern installation sites.
Silver: South Korea
studio "BCHO Acrhitects"
Topic: "You are what you eat"
The prototype of this pavilion was a traditional Korean snow-white vessel called the "Moon Pitcher". Its evolution from simple clay pots to finely worked porcelain is also in architecture an allegory of continuity within one culture ***
Bronze:
Russia
architectural bureau SPEECH, initial concept of the exposition: Yuri Avvakumov, exposition design: Simpateka RUS and SPEECH
Topic: “Growing up for the sake of peace. We are cultivating for the future"
Exposition: Pavilions <2000 m2
Gold: Austria
Klaus Loenhart
Topic: “Breathe. Austria"
Of all European countries, Austria is considered the most comfortable for life, including in terms of product quality and ecology. The Austrian pavilion was filled with trees, its architecture was emphatically inconspicuous, and clean air and wildlife were the best at the exhibition. After conducting research, the Austrians created a small piece of forest in their pavilion with an ideal climate and an amount of oxygen produced sufficient for 1,800 people. Now the trees of the Austrian pavilion will settle in Italy. ***
Silver: Iran
Kamran Safanesh, Rah Shahr Architectural Consulting Engineers, RPA S.r.l.
Topic: “Global Sofre. Iranian culture"
The emphasis in the design of the Iranian pavilion is placed on religious traditions, in particular, on the Muslim sofra - a piece of fabric that is traditionally used to decorate the table. The pavilion is created in the form of a stretched awning, the drawings inside are schematically repeated the embroidery on the sofa. ***
Bronze: Estonia
Kadarik Tüür Arhitektid
Topic: "Gallery of Estonia"
The swing on the first floor was not an entertainment, but a device for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy. It is so simple and dynamic that you can perform familiar actions in the modern world: for example, charge your phone without leaving a negative mark on the environment, the authors say. And the funny wooden visor noticeably parodied the serious mirrored "nose" of the neighboring Russian pavilion.
Exposure: Cluster
Gold: Montenegro
Marko Brachovitz
Topic: "Health with every bite!"
Silver: Venezuela
Topic: "Venezuela feeds its people consciously!"
Bronze: Gabon
Herzog & de Meuron
Topic: "Food that helps all life" ***
Disclosure of the topic: pavilions> 2000 m2
Gold: Germany
Lennart Wihel (Schmidhuber Bureau), Milla & Partner
Topic: "Fields of Ideas"
Silver: Angola
Federico Acuto, Stefano Gaudimundo (Masterplan studio)
Topic: "Food and Culture: Education and Innovation" ***
Bronze: Kazakhstan
LAND Milano srl
Topic: "Land of Opportunities"
Disclosure of the topic: pavilions <2000 m2
Gold: Vatican
Topic: “Not by bread alone. At God's table with all mankind"
Silver: Kingdom of Monaco
Enrico Polini
Topic: "Excellence and Solidarity - A New Look at Ways to Feed the Planet"
Bronze: Ireland
Topic: "Ireland's Green Start: Working with Nature" ***
Topic Disclosure: Cluster
Gold: Algeria
Bureau "Studio De Ferrari Architects", Bureau "Buonomo Veglia"
Topic: "Agricultural heritage and technological development for food self-sufficiency"
Silver: Cambodia
Milan Polytechnic Design Studio, Remo Dorigati
Topic: "Rice harvest from fertile Cambodian soil in cultural heritage"
Bronze: Mauritania
Topic: "Crops of irrigation under palm trees in arid regions and deserts and dairy products" ***
Separately, BIE Medals were received by the Italian government, Società Expo, Lombardy region, Milan authorities, the Italian pavilion, the Executive Committee of the Board of General Commissioners and the “WE-Women for Expo” project.
