Winners of Expo Milan 2015 announced

The winners of Expo Milan 2015 were announced on Friday, on the International Exhibitions Bureau Day, celebrated on October 30. Ferdinand Nagy, president of BIE (Bureau International des Expositions), and Vicente Loscertales, general secretary, were present at the award ceremony, where the organisation they represent has awarded the best pavilions of Expo Milan 2015. The awards were divided into two categories, with three sections each: Architecture and landscape, Establishment and Concept development. In addition, the Cluster category winners were awarded, with two sections, Establishment and Concept development, and a special BIE prize was given. The winners are:

For the category ”Best pavilion under 2000 sqm”, Architecture and landscape, the first place went to UK, for Wolfgang Buttress’ ”Hive”, for ”content harmony, display and spatial experience”, followed by Chile’ ”El Amor del Chile”, with Cristián Undurraga’s design, and Czech Republic’s pavilion ”Laboratory of life”, designed by Chybik+Kristof Associated Architects. In the Establishment section, the winners are: first prize goes to Austria’s ”woods”, for the ”bold sensorial experience involving the participants”, designed by Mario GASSER & Bence PAP, with the concept ”Breath Austria”; the second prize was received by Iran, with the theme ”Global Sofreh, Iranian Culture”, designed by Kamran Safamanesh; and the third one goes to Estonia’s ”Gallery of”, designed by Kadarik Tüür Arhitektid. The Concept Development section was won by Vatican, with its ”Holy See” pavilion, for the ”clarity and sobriety in which daily routines and events were presented”, designed by Roberto Pulitani; second place went to Monaco’s  “Excellence and Solidarity – A New Look at Feeding the Planet”, for the italian’s architect Enrico Pollini’s design, and the third prize was received by Ireland’s ”Origin Green Ireland: Working with Nature”, designed by OPW – Bmmc Milano.

For the category ”Best pavilion built on a plot larger than 2000 sqm”, Architecture and landscape prize, was awarded to France, for ”an innovative concept for a covered food market and an open and vivid landscape”, with the theme ”Producing and feed differently”, designed by the French studio “X-TU” Architects; followed by Bahrain’s pavilion “Archaeologies of Green”, designed by Studio Anne Holtrop, and China’s “Land of Hope, Food for Life”, for Studio Link-Arc’s design. In the Establishment section, the winners are: Japan’s ”Harmonious Diversity”, for a ”harmonious combination between nature representation and technological innovation”, designed by Atsushi Kitagawara, followed by Republic of Korea’s design by BCHO Architects “You Are What You Eat”, and Russia, with a design by SPEECH, for “Growing for the World. Cultivating for the Future”. The Concept Development winner is the German Pavilion ”Fields of ideas”, designed by SCHMIDHUBER, for ”an efficient message regarding innovative content in architecture, food, etc”, with Angola on the second place, with a design by António Gameiro and Paula Nascimiento for “Food and Culture: Educate to Innovate”, and Kazakhstan’s ”The land of opportunities”, with a design by Gtp2 Architects.

The Cluster category, Establishment  section, first place goes to Montenegro’s pavilion “Healthy with Every Bite!” (Bio-Mediterranean Cluster), designed by Marko Brajović, for ”the educational values display”, followed by Venezuela’s “Venezuela feeds its People’s awareness” (Cereals and Tubers Cluster), and Gabon’s “Food that benefits all lifestyles” (Cocoa Cluster). The Concept development section was won by Algeria’s pavilion “Agricultural Heritage and Technological Development for Food Self-Sufficiency” (Bio-Mediterranean Cluster), for ”a wonderful combination between traditional  and new information about agricultural variety of the country”, designed by Studio De Ferrari Architetti and Buonomo Veglia, the second place went to Cambodia (the Rice Cluster), for “Rice Crop Grown on the Cambodian Land Rich in Cultural Heritage”, and the third one to Mauritania’s “Irrigated Culture under Palm Trees of the Arid Regions of the Desert and Dairy Food” (Arid Zones Cluster).

A special prize from BIE was awarded to CESAL, ”an organization for the development of cooperation and promotion, of the development of food policies, in poor nations on the planet”, for their project ”Nutritious Diet and Sustainable Future for the Children of Haiti”. The next World Expo will be hosted by Kazakhstan, in 2017.

By Cristina Juc