having created the dynamically woven spanish pavilion for the 2010 shanghai expo, italian architect benedetta tagliabue of EMBT, returns to her home city of milan to contribute to 2015 world expo with the construction of the copagri ‘love it’ pavilion.
commissioned by copagri, (the confederation of agricultural producers) the structure is made up two prefabricated geodesic domes — equal in diameter, but different in height — of delicately folded triangles. the design emerged from the observation of italian landscapes and architecture with the splendor of italian cities represented by their skyline of cupolas. ‘love it’ is composed of glulam elements made of spruce and joined by steel plates. it has been erected as a three-dimensional grid that slowly emerges into woven branches that extend from the roof, subtly mimicking the expo’s ‘tree of life’ seen in the distant backdrop.
each dome is wrapped with an internal PVC sheet which has been suspended from their. this covers the openings to provide water resistance. the seaming follows the structural grid, enabling natural ventilation to occur throughout as a result of stack effect. the entire perimeter of the arched pavilion is covered with a net fabric, whose zig-zag pattern follows the overall grid, also ensuring ventilation.
internally, the pavilion showcases ‘real italian food’. organized into different areas, the small dome hosts 13 large triangular counters which seek to recreate the typical italian market atmosphere. each of these booths hosts a weekly rotating display of natural products, that are narrated by the farmers /producers telling their story. promoting ‘made in italy’, the larger of the two domes is equipped with a multipurpose room for cooking demonstrations, a multi-sensorial exhibit and two zones dedicated to biological pizza and ice-cream tasting. lamps, which reflect the shape of the pavilion are suspended from the PVC sheet tie-beams and dangle from above, illuminating the exhibition space.
on the official opening of the copagri ‘love it’ pavilion, designboom spoke with benedetta tagliabue who elabrates on overall architectural concept of the structure, the collaboration with the confederation of agricultural producers, and challenges EMBT faced in realizing the domes on a short timeline.
designboom: how did the partnership with copagri come about for this pavilion?
benedetta tagliabue: we were proposing for expo some special domes built in wood, re-buildable… and expo was proposing our idea to companies, different companies who wished to have a unique space, in a very permanent place; and copagri started to become very interested. and when expo told them ‘oh, we have no time to build this dome. you have to do something else,’ they said, ‘no, we want benedetta’s dome and we will do our best to build it,’ and here it is!