Agrofood-Park for Expo 2015 by H&deM

With the preparations for the Shanghai Expo 2010 reaching their peak, the Basel office Herzog & de Meuron presented its urban planning project for the upcoming Expo 2015, which was awarded to the Italian city of Milan two years ago, where the world's fair last took place in 1906. The concept of the exhibition area, which involves Jacques Herzog, Ricky Burdett, Stefano Boeri, and William McDonough, was introduced in September of last year.
The slogan for Expo 2015 will be “Feeding the planet, energy for life” and will focus on global food supply. The authors of the urban planning intention aim to establish “a revolutionary concept in organizing world exhibitions.” They aim to eliminate the “outdated model” of exhibitions that “is based on a system built on architectural monuments.” The new Expo wishes to “leave all monumentality far behind.” Instead of enormous structures similar to the Eiffel Tower, a “new landscape of monumental lightness and natural beauty” is to be created in Milan. The authors of the new Expo present it as “a planetary botanical garden” offered to the people of Milan and the entire world: “a vast Agrofood-Park based on a rectangular grid surrounded by water and punctuated by striking landscape architecture.”
At the heart of the planetary garden lies a proven method of founding Roman cities with the axes of Cardo and Decumanus at their intersection. The longer axis measures 1.4 kilometers, connecting to the original Via Sempione. The wider dimensions of the street take inspiration from La Rambla or the Champs Elysées. At the center of this axis, a “planetary table” will provide a space for rest, observation of pavilions, and offer samples of food from various countries. The second axis, with its geometry, refers to arable land in the vicinity of Milan. This area serves to divide the land into plots for the pavilions of individual countries, which are to be equally sized, regardless of the geopolitical significance of each country. This is intended to prevent countries and exhibiting organizations from competing architecturally.
Expo 2015 will take place in the northwest of Milan from March to October 2015. In just a few weeks, you can visit the Expo in Shanghai and two years later in Yeosu, South Korea.