The Masterplan

The Expo Milano 2015 site has been conceived as an expression of the theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. It was designed by architects from Expo 2015 SpA with the support of internationally renowned architects such as Stefano Boeri, Ricky Burdett and Jacques Herzog.

Against the unique extraordinary setting of the Expo Site, the exhibition and distribution layout for Participants is very simple and deliberately systematic, to contrast with the many varied ways of taking part.

Allowing players free expression within a preset systematic framework is the mot important premise because freedom of expression is the fundamental value of World Expos and participation by countries.

The two axes that make up the structure of the masterplan grid copy the historic alignment of the Sempione and also symbolise an ideal itinerary: the Decumanus leads from the centre towards the periphery, the axis that symbolically joins the place where food is consumed (the city) with the place where it is produced (the countryside). In a city like Milan, the second Municipality in Italy for agricultural production, surrounded by a large agricultural park, this road takes on special importance especially in relation to its perpendicular axis, the Cardo. The latter represents the conjunction of the ring of parks and green structures that in this way reconnect and become a virtual part of the Site.

Along the Decumanus, all the countries taking part will be given the chance to express and showcase their own wealth of food and produce and let visitors taste their fare: a one-kilometre long sensorial experience, a walk through different lots, with a new country every twenty metres and a variety of aromas and flavours that correspond to all the different interpretations of the theme. In the same way, the second axis – the Cardo – is surrounded by the exhibition spaces and tasting sessions organised by the host country, Italy, the great interpreter of the Expo theme thanks to its excellences in food, health and wellbeing. Here, regions and cities, companies and associations will show to the world the culture and tradition of Italian food that stand out thanks to the high quality of raw materials and finished products.

At one end of the Cardo, close to the Lake Arena, there is Palazzo Italia, the institutional meeting place for the host country and participants. This is a three-storey building raised above the ground to create a huge covered piazza underneath that can be used as a venue for events, including those of an institutional nature.

The intersection of the Cardo and the Decumanus will be the symbolic place where Italy meets the world and the world meets Italy, in a large central piazza the size of Piazza della Scala in Milan.

The Site is devised as an island surrounded by a canal that brings one of the basic elements of this “extraordinary setting” into the project: water.

This is an element closely linked to the theme that brings Milan’s canals to mind, at the same time providing irrigation and control of the micro-climate for the Site. Water thus becomes a technical element, not only for the capacity to collect rainwater in phytotreatment ponds, purify it and return it to the irrigation system for the surrounding countryside, but also for the possibility that it offers to create microclimate zones that differ to meet visitors’ requirements.

Direct contact with the canal is provided by the Service Areas inside the Site that will house everything needed to make visits enjoyable (cafés, restaurants, WC, retail spaces…). These are positioned at regular intervals inside the orthogonal framework along the Decumanus, in the main public areas and along the perimeter path. The green areas and docks next to the Service Areas are the ideal place for a quick lunch or a pleasant evening out. The importance of the services in these areas and their distribution on the Site make the Service Areas fundamental elements in the overall layout and decisive elements for visitor experience and quality of visits, personifying the values and principles of the Organiser and its approach to the layout and management of the Site.

The Service Areas integrate and insert harmoniously and coherently into the different Site contexts and at the same time characterise the different spaces thanks to an easily recognisable image that helps visitors to find their way around and the services they require. 

Together with the canal, the Site’s main symbolic elements help to define the setting at its cardinal points: the Hill, the Open Air Theatre, the Lake Arena and the Expo Centre. In addition to acting as references that guide guiding visitors around the Exhibition Site, these will also be the venues for the big events at the Exposition.

Standing 22 metres high, the Hill is one of the Site’s big landmarks and home to the Mediterranean agro eco-system. Its user-friendly design includes a system of ramps that take visitors to the top, from where they can enjoy a fabulous view of the Site from above.

The Open Air Theatre, to the south of the Site, will seat around 9,000 spectators on its lawns and steps for open-air concerts, plays and official ceremonies.

The Lake Arena, will be a pool of water fed by the canal and surrounded by steps, having a seating capacity of around 3,000 or 6,000 standing. It will be the venue for special water shows, fireworks, concerts and performances on platforms and floating stages, artistic installations and temporary events.

The Expo Centre, to the extreme west of the Decumanus, comprises three independent functional blocks: an auditorium (southern block), a performance area (central block) and an office block (northern block). The first two have been designed to be disassembled after the Expo, while the office block will be permanent.

Thanks also to versatile adaptable structures, the events spaces will offer entertainment for fans in the form of music, theatre and dance and also for visitors passing through with continual forms of entertainment between the big events.

A simple layout and natural thematic symbolic elements for an attentive project, made up of micro landscaping devices, attention to details and technological solutions and necessarily sustainable in order to increase visitor comfort and the enjoyment of time spent inside the exhibition perimeter.

In the same way, roofing is an element that characterises the very design of the Exhibition Site and becomes an integral part of it, covering all the pedestrian paths to protect visitors on sunny or rainy days.

These elements, in addition to offering a high level of environmental comfort during the Milan summer, guarantee unitary layout for the whole area. 

The desire to lend coherence and continuity between the open space and the contents of the Exhibition, avoiding queues and a concentration of attractions inside the pavilions and enclosures, leads to a need to service and enhance all the public spaces, to make visits to the open spaces on the Site problem-free and interesting.

Penetration between indoors and outdoors will be evident above all in the evening, when numerous events will bring the Site alive. The high landscape value of the one combined with the enjoyment factor of the other will also make the Expo a unique place for meeting, sharing, discovering cultures and races and savouring cuisine from around the world or simply for spending a pleasant evening in the company of friends, entertained by a huge number of simultaneous happenings.

All these characteristics make the Site particularly interesting also for those who visit the Expo more than once, each time looking for something new. They will discover unexplored thematic paths that meet the typologies and interests of diverse visitor targets, in a setting that is totally customisable and different on each visit.

Companies can take part in the Event as suppliers, sponsors of Thematic Areas or by having their own space and pavilion in an area of the Exhibition Site.

The Thematic Areas are spaces curated by the Organiser, where the theme of the Event is developed through exhibition paths, artistic installations, attractions and more. Inside the Site there are eight of these Areas, some didactic and some entertaining, where the theme is represented thanks to the different aspects of Nutrition, Health and Wellbeing, related to different historic conditions.

Cascina Triulza is a typical farm building from the Pianura Padana, which will be renovated and redeveloped to house a display of Best Practices linked to the theme. The same project also includes spaces for participation by the Civil Society and Centre for Sustainable Development, a cutting-edge building for technological research into the theme of food which will be left as a legacy for the city of Milan after the Expo.

The presentation of the Exhibition Site