FRENCH PAVILION EXPO MILANO 2015 in Milan, ITALY by XTU ARCHITECTS

Article source: XTU ARCHITECTS

After Beijing in 2010, it is Milan’s turn to host the Universal Exhibition from 1 May to 31 October 2015. Since 1851, this international event has been exhibiting the means available by humanity to satisfy its basic needs by showcasing the latest advances and future opportunities in a variety of fields. Over 140 participating countries are expected for this year’s Expo Milano 2015, which has chosen the theme «Feeding the planet, energy for life.» Keeping with tradition, the world’s most acclaimed architects have been commissioned to design the pavilions. Pushing beyond the boundaries of creativity, these pavilions offer up form, avant-garde design and function that collectively breathe life into buildings intended to embody the spirit of the countries they represent, their knowledge and their power of innovation.

Image Courtesy © Andrea Bosio

• Architects: XTU ARCHITECTS, Anouk Legendre + Nicolas Desmazières
• Project: FRENCH PAVILION EXPO MILANO 2015
• Location: Milan, ITALY
• Photography: Andrea Bosio, Luc Boegly
• Project Manager: Mathias Lukacs
• Partners: Atelien Architecture _ Architects, Studio Adeline Rispal_ Exhibition Designers, Innovision _ Multimedia
  Licht Kunst Licht_ Lighting Designers, Grontmij _ Engineering, Oasiis_ Environmental Technology and Engineering
  Agence Laverne Paysagistes _ Landscapers, Viasonora _ Sound Designers, BECP _ Kitchen Designers, Chevalvert _ Graphic Designers, Lordculture _ Cultural Engineering, Les Films d’Ici _ Film Production
• Companies: C.M.C di Ravenna, Simonin
• Building surface area: 3,532 m² GFA/3,286 m² usable space

Image Courtesy © Andrea Bosio

• Site footprint: 3,500 m²
• Timeline
  • Competition: January 2014
  • Construction: September 2014
  • Completion: April 2015
• Cost: €14 millio

Image Courtesy © Andrea Bosio

France is a major agricultural country. Geology has endowed it with an abundant array of terroirs and it boasts a deep-rooted genealogical heritage that has given rise to cultural and gastronomical traditions celebrated throughout the world. The French Pavilion conveys this productive diversity with a new twist on the iconic covered market through shapes that simultaneously echo the territory and «pieces» of the landscape.

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

In January 2014, the architecture firm XTU was recognised for its dedication to earth-sustaining ground-breaking green architecture when it won FranceAgriMer’s design competition for the French Pavilion at the Expo Milano 2015, winning over the
firms SOA, Chabanne and Partners, Moatti Rivière and Rudy Ricciotti.

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

XTU ARCHITECTS:

X for the unknown mathematical variable and TU for the suffix in situ – references to the geography and the landscape of work done by Nicolas Desmazières and Anouk Legendre, the architects who founded XTU in 2000. Among its many projects, XTU designed the Jeongok Prehistory Museum in South Korea and has worked on the Musée des Civilisations in La Reunion (MCUR), the first positive energy museum in the Indian Ocean and the Museum of Wine in Bordeaux. These forays into a range of climatic and cultural settings shifted the firm’s focus to an undying commitment to the environment through architecture inspired entirely by nature, from wind and water to shadows and wildlife. This is what literally and figuratively makes XTU’s projects take on organic forms with a futuristic feel. Standing by a conviction that architecture should predict the future and the biotechnological transformation will be the Third Industrial Revolution, the architects at XTU are heavily invested in urban agriculture and experimental research, which lies at the intersection of the life sciences, ecology, architecture and urban development. They achieve this by striving to design fertile energy-producing buildings through collaborations with industrialists, chemists and engineers. The progeny is the first « manifesto project » for an offshore city called X_ seaty that runs on ocean-derived energies. This led to the innovative SymBiO2 concept, a biofaçade system that symbiotically grows micro-algae in symbiosis with a building and uses photosynthesis to produce bioenergy.

The bionic projects were introduced at a monographic exhibition in 2010 at the Paris Galerie d’Architecture, at Archilab 2014 in the Frac Centre, the Algocultures Expo at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and the 2014 International Architecture Exhibition in Venice.

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © Luc Boegly

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Image Courtesy © XTU ARCHITECTS

Tags: Italy, Milan

Categories: Exhibition Center, Mixed use, Pavilion, Restaurant, Retail

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