The Swiss pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan is mostly an open-plan set of rooms that encourages the visitor to linger.
Standing in the centre are four storage towers that create a striking silhouette visible from afar. The towers are surrounded by a platform that acts as both an exhibition area and a shaded common area for the ground floor.
Connected to the platform is the super-block, which accommodates exhibition rooms for partners, a restaurant, a VIP lounge, an auditorium, and various office and function rooms.
The architecture of this whole ensemble is derived from the content concept of the pavilion. This causes the exhibition materials to meld with the architecture and to shape each other.
One highlight is a visit to the towers filled with food, which visitors are encouraged to take for themselves. The items are not restocked. As the shelves empty, the tower platforms lower, causing the Swiss pavilion to change over the course of time. Visitors are transformed into consumers who are called to reflect upon their own consumption behaviour in light of abundance and scarcity.
An exhibition on the platform entitled “I am part of it” illuminates the many different aspects of Switzerland in this regard in the form of film portraits spotlighting the personal actions of individual protagonists.
This is a pavilion that takes the Expo 2015 theme “Feeding the planet – Energy for life” and writes a story about progress and affluence, and their downsides.
Switzerland’s presence is supplemented by thematic exhibitions by partners that visitors can tour individually.
The Swiss pavilion will be in operation for six months. Accordingly, as many elements as possible will be prefabricated, then dismantled and recycled again after the Expo. A second use is envisaged for the towers by erecting them again in Switzerland and employing them as urban farming towers.
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