Swiss Pavillion for Milano 2015

Today we present the concept for the Swiss Pavilion in Expo Milano 2015.
It was developed with Andres Clericci, Martin Kurmann, Davide Oliveri (davideolivieri@hotmail.com), Luca Cerullo and Debora Alasraki (www.urbanmedia3d.com).

Given the plot (in a very prominent corner), the theme (food) and the country (Switzerland) we started by developing the idea:

Switzerland as a place of technology, and food technology: technology also as something in the DNA of human being (beer, cheese are already food with applied technology)

Switzerland as a "plus": this would be the theme of the exhibition (more technology, more advantages, more integration...) and would be the plan of the exhibition space (a cross).

A pavilions that will get back to the food cycle: the pavilion had to cost 9M €, we decided to expend 8M € and use the rest to bring back the materials of the pavilion to the food cycle with it. The pavilion will consist of a series of interconnected shells filled up with some kind of biologic material that can be used as part of the food cycle (earth, seeds, compost...).

The Cheese pavilion: as an edible pavilion from Switzerland and including technology, our mind fast went to the emmental, an opportunity of creating a pavilion that would have multiple entrances and this way would interact with the plot where it was.

With these ideas we went through several options, of which we show one:

Elevation

Exterior view from facade corner with exterior auditorium.

Exterior view of secondary patios.

A very rough image of the inside.

The exhibition space makes a cross shape in the space, with a stair as a central and main space illuminated through a skylight.

Next to the rear facade we accommodate all the "partners" exhibition spaces.

In the front facade we accommodate all the public spaces.

And the spaces in-between make the offices, this time clear and regular.

The same system is extended in a series of patios that would receive the visitors and create an outside auditorium.

This lump sum of bubbles (sometimes inside, sometimes outside) create the shells.

And then the whole thing would be wrapped in a very regular and orthogonal pavillion, and then the space in-between would be filled with the organic material that would go into the "food circle"

Program would fit in those bubbles that would interact with each other. Every program had its own bubble, and the auditorium would be the only "complete" one, creating the sitting space.

This interaction would create a main path...

But also allow for secondary paths.

Exterior patios make a big opening to fulfil regulations.

And with this strategy we could react with precission to the site conditions.

This time we played with organic shapes: starting from the circle we created several shapes made of arches that create a much more complex and subtle shape.

These shapes where then revolved and cut bellow the rotation axis, magnifying the sensation of being inside a bubble.

This competition was lost and inaugurates a series of competitions we are developing and we’ll soon post.

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