Expo 2015

Expo 2015 logo

Expo 2015 is the next scheduled Universal Exposition after Expo 2010, and will be hosted by Milan, Italy. On November 23, 2010, the event was officially announced by the Bureau of International Expositions, after that the BIE assembly in Paris had decided in favour of the Milanese candidature on March 31, 2008. Expo 2015 will be held under the theme Feeding the planet, energy for life.

Theme

The theme chosen for the 2015 Milan Universal Exposition is Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. This embraces technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity and how they relate to food and diet. Expo 2015 will further develop themes introduced in earlier Expos (e.g., water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in the light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, with a principal focus on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for all the world’s inhabitants.

The concerns of many futurologists about the quality of food in the years to come are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainties regarding the quantities of food that will be available globally. These concerns, expressed early on in studies by MIT for the Club of Rome, were largely ignored at a time when it appeared that increases in resource availability would outstrip increases in consumption. However, the rapid depletion of agricultural surpluses has clearly manifested the urgency of the problem of how to Feed the Planet and prevent hunger.

Site

The area that will be occupied by the Expo 2015 site is located northwest of Milan in the municipalities of Rho and Pero, and covers an area of 1.1 km² (0.42 sq mi). It is adjacent to the new Fiera Milano fairgrounds, designed by Massimiliano Fuksas, whose project may be considered the cornerstone of the urban redevelopment of the entire area. The zone had long been an industrial area before being converted to logistical and municipal services and agriculture. The fairgrounds and the Expo site will be connected by a pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Rho-Pero high-speed rail station.

The genesis of the Expo plan was a complex process, which may be divided into three different phases:

1. Initial plan
2. Concept plan
3. Master plan

The chosen area is oblong in shape with an overall length of nearly 3 km (1.9 mi), immediately suggesting the idea of a main axis conceived as a boulevard along which the pavilions would be located. The design of pools and waterways in and around the Expo area has been an element of primary importance in the three phases.

Initial plan

Expo 2015 bid logo

The initial plan was characterized by the following principal elements:

• 50% of the area occupied by pavilions, 35% of the area dedicated to external spaces around each pavilion, and the remaining 15% comprised a green perimeter ring around the site;
• Piazza Italia and Piazza Expo located at either end of the main boulevard. The former dominated by the Italy pavilion (approx. 7,000 square meters) and flanked by a second square dubbed Piazza delle Regioni;
• A large artificial lake surrounded by the 20 pavilions representing the Italian regions;
• An amphitheatre (12,000 seats, 9,000 square meters) and an Auditorium (6,000 seats, 6,000 square meters);
• Country pavilions in three different sizes depending on the financial resources of each participating country;
• Three collective pavilions dedicated to three geographical areas: Asia, Africa and Latin America/Caribbean.

A services area was planned near the main Expo site covering some 100 hectares and outfitted with hotels, parking facilities, stores, a convention centre, green areas and a business centre available for use by Expo participants, as well as a 12-hectare Expo village to house staff, volunteers, security personnel and administrative personnel.

Plans also called for the following thematic pavilions:

• What the world eats: at the base of the Expo tower and in the pedestrian bridge connecting the Rho-Pero fairgrounds to the Expo site;
• Science and conscience
• Tales of land, air and water
• The food spiral
• The right to eat well
• In the realm of the senses, in Piazza Italia;
• Equilibrium
• The art of food

Concept plan

The concept plan for the Expo 2015 site was presented on September 8, 2009. It was designed by a committee of four architects: Stefano Boeri, Richard Burdett, Mark Rylander and Jacques Herzog.

The main idea was to trace out within the area two distinct lines of demarcation, two avenues, a main avenue and a secondary avenue representing the ancient Roman layout comprising a cardo and a decumanus. The initial idea of a “classical” site composed of avenues and pavilions was replaced by the idea of a “light” Expo composed of exhibition areas arranged transversally with respect to the main boulevard. The exhibition areas are completely identical for each country and recreate the typical “food cycle” of each nation, from production to consumption. The centre of the avenue is occupied by a table in front of the country pavilions and extending for the entire length of the site. Here visitors would be able to sample the foods produced in the pavilion of each country. The entire area would be covered by large tent-like structures to convey the idea of a global marketplace.

A second idea was to build large bioclimatic greenhouses on the site to reproduce the earth’s principal environment types or biomes. These would function both as thematic pavilions and for the cultivation and production of basic foodstuffs used in the individual country pavilions. Each country would also be able to have a dedicated greenhouse within its specific exhibition area.

In this second version of the Expo site, water remained an important element but was shifted toward the exterior, no longer arranged in canals flowing through the pavilions, but as a large navigable canal surrounding the Expo site. A large lake was also included in the design.

Additional characteristic elements included:

• A large excavated amphitheatre and a hill, one at either end of the boulevard;
• Expo village facilities across the encircling canal from the Expo site;
• Redevelopment of the post office building as a Centre for Sustainable Development.

Master plan

The final master plan for the Expo site was delivered to the BIE during the registration ceremony of Expo Milan 2015 in Paris on April 30, 2010.

The final plan that was submitted to the BIE for approval was coordinated by Stefano Boeri. Currently available information suggests that the plan does not contradict the main ideas of the concept plan while adapting to the more classic exhibition standards of events of this type:

• The idea is abandoned of providing equal amounts of space for each exhibiting country; each will have the opportunity to rent areas ranging from 400 to 6,000 square meters;
• The buildable areas are reduced to 30% of the area assigned to each exhibitor;
• The large navigable canal around the area is maintained;
• The tent roofing remains only along the principal axes of the cardo and the decumanus;
• The greenhouses will be concentrated in a single zone measuring 50,000 square meters;
• The circular basin present in the concept plan is transformed into a theatre on the water, with performances and shows on a centrally placed stage;
• The new plan includes, at either end of the site, the large open-air amphitheatre and the green hill created with the earth from the amphitheatre excavation;
• An auditorium is included.

Participants

Participants in the Expo are expected to include over 120 countries plus a significant number of international organizations.

As part of the reciprocity protocol with Expo 2010 of Shanghai, on December 8, 2008, China was the first country to formalize its participation in Expo Milan 2015. The first country out of the reciprocity protocol to confirm its participation was Switzerland on February 3, 2011.

Collaboration agreements

In preparation for the upcoming event, the City of Milan has signed numerous collaboration agreements with other cities in Italy and Europe in order to coordinate initiatives united by the common denominator of Expo 2015. These agreements focus principally on tourism, culture and infrastructure.

Agreements have also been signed with various countries around the world for the development of specific projects associated with food and education.

External links

• Official Site Expo 2015 Milan
• News on Expo 2015 and on the city of Milan
• İzmir is The Official Candidate of Expo 2015 and EXPO 2015 İzmir Film
• Presentation at the BIE of the Expo 2015 candidature 19 december 2006
• ExpoMuseum's Expo 2015 Page
• YouTube Expo Milano TV
• Businesses for Milan 'Expo 2015