UK Pavilion Expo 2015, Milan Building, Italian Development, Italy Architecture, Design Images
UK Pavilion Expo 2015 in Milan
Pavilion, Italian Building Show – design by Wolfgang Buttress
Design: Wolfgang Buttress with engineer Tristan Simmonds and architectural practice BDP
Manufacture + construction: Stage One
Location: Milan, Lombardy, north west Italy
1 May 2015
UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015
film by Nick Caville/BDP ; images by David Barbour:
UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015 Film on YouTube
UK Pavilion Milan Expo by Nick Caville/BDP
The UK Pavilion at the Milan Expo
BDP videographer Nick Caville has been busy documenting the development of this exciting project with a film. His footage features interviews with key members of the design team who explain the design process and the ideas behind the scheme.
The UK pavilion resembles a giant beehive at the centre of a wildflower meadow, and is inspired by the crucial role played by bees and pollination in providing the world’s food supply. Visitors enter through an orchard set within a courtyard space enclosed by high gabion walls. The journey continues through the meadow before entering the hive structure, made from a lattice of 169,300 pieces of aluminium and steel.
BDP architects, landscape, lighting and sustainability consultants designed the pavilion as part of a team led by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress and including contractor Stage One and structural engineer Tristan Simmonds.
The Expo takes place from 1 May to 31 October and this year’s theme is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’.
UK Pavilion at the Milan Expo 2015 images / information received from BDP on 010515
21 Apr 2015
UK Pavilion Expo 2015 News
Design: Wolfgang Buttress
Location: Milan, Lombardy, north west Italy
The UK Pavilion for Expo 2015 is designed by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress in collaboration with engineer Tristan Simmonds and Manchester-based architectural practice BDP. It is constructed and manufactured by York-based company Stage One.
The UK is participating at the World Expo 2015 in Milan from 1 May to 31 October. ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ is the core theme. 145 nations are participating, including the UK’s major political and trading partners, in addition to the United Nations, the European Union, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research and a host of NGOs. Milan Expo 2015 offers a global platform to promote UK international agendas and showcase how British innovation, creativity and global leadership is helping to feed the planet.
The UK’s participation theme for Milan Expo 2015 is ‘Grown in Britain & Northern Ireland’, led by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) with support from seven HM Government departments. The stand-out UK Pavilion is inspired by the crucial role played by pollination in providing the food that we eat. It offers visitors a unique experiential journey taken from the perspective of the honeybee and forms the platform for a programme of UK business, science and cultural events, linked to the leading role the UK plays in overcoming global challenges.
The stand-out UK Pavilion is designed by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress in collaboration with engineer Tristan Simmonds and Manchester-based architectural practice BDP. It is constructed and manufactured by York-based company Stage One. Creative agency Squint Opera has developed the immersive UK Pavilion visitor journey with innovative concepts in graphic design and animation. All are award-winning British talent.
Inspired by scientific research and ground-breaking UK technology developed by physicist and bee expert Dr. Martin Bencsik, which monitors the health of beehives, the UK Pavilion is a great example of how UK creativity, business and science can be combined to solve a global challenge. The UK is a hive of activity where solutions to some of today’s greatest challenges are developed and shared with the world.
The visitor follows the dance of a bee, travelling through a series of landscapes. The experience starts with a journey through an orchard, followed by a wildflower meadow and on to a giant aluminium beehive. Within the hive the visitor experience is further compounded by audio and visual effects, responding to movements within a real UK beehive.
British food on the UK Pavilion is showcased by Royal Warrant holders and caterers Mosimann’s, who will be offering changing breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Diageo are the exclusive spirit providers. UK Pavilion partners are Jaguar Land Rover and British Airways.
For the duration of Milan Expo 2015, there will be a curated programme of private and public events held at the UK Pavilion and other locations in Milan, and a programme of more than 200 events targeted at global opinion formers and networks to showcase the UK’s leadership position surrounding the following themes – science policy and research; culture and creativity; international development and business.
Each month, UK internationally renowned chefs, such as Tom Aikens, Angela Hartnett and Ken Hom, will be showcasing the best of British creativity, serving up a unique British menu made with UK-sourced ingredients and produce.
Prominent British fashion designers will be promoting the UK as a global leader in sustainable fashion and eminent climate change expert, Lord Stern, will take to the stage to stimulate debate on one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Some of the key activities taking place at the UK Pavilion: the Natural History Museum, a British cultural icon, will stage its renowned wildlife photography exhibition, and through its hugely popular FameLab competition, the British Council will be developing its science talent pipeline.
UKTI is delivering a comprehensive Global Business Programme of international events to maximise the UK’s participation at Milan Expo 2015, to grow UK trade and investment relationships globally and underline that the UK is open for business. As part of the UK Government’s 2020 Export Drive, the Global Business Programme aims to deliver £1 billion of economic benefit to the UK over time by helping UK companies to win new business and promote the UK as the inward investment destination of choice.
In Milan, the Global Business Programme will focus on the GREAT Weeks – six high-impact, sector-focused business and networking events taking place at UK House at Palazzo dei Giureconsulti and Villa Necchi, bringing together business leaders, decision-makers, UK companies and buyers from around the globe.
BDP – UK Pavilion architects, landscape architects and environmental engineers
BDP is a major international practice of architects, designers, engineers and urbanists creating outstanding places for people.
Working in interdisciplinary teams BDP produces integrated, holistic and sustainable solutions with a cumulative depth of experience that gives leading edge expertise across a wide spectrum of sectors.
Originally established in 1961 as Building Design Partnership, BDP now has studios across the world. These combine local knowledge with the vision, values and infrastructure of a major award-winning practice.
Website : BDP
Dr. Martin Bencsik – Physicist and bee expert
Martin Bencsik is a Reader in Physics at Nottingham Trent University. He obtained a Masters in theoretical physics in Lyon, France, and a PhD in Physics from Nottingham University in 1999 followed by a period of postdoctoral research on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
In 2003 he joined the Nottingham Trent University as a Lecturer in Physics. Martin’s research focuses on novel applications of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and more recently on bioacoustics, including honey bee colony condition monitoring.
Website : Dr. Martin Bencsik
Wolfgang Buttress – UK Pavilion artist and creative lead
Wolfgang Buttress creates simple, elegant and contextual sculptures which seek to define and celebrate a sense of place. Stepping out of the cacophony of the modern world, the artworks seek to establish a connection to something timeless and elemental. Increasingly, he has drawn inspiration from nature, collaborating with experts to explore and interpret scientific discoveries. Such collaborations enable something of the timeless mystery of nature to transpose into art.
Elegance is achieved through integrated structural analysis, allowing the sculptures to be refined and reduced to an essential form. It is fundamental to his practice that artworks engage with their context and landscape. Over the last 20 years he has worked and collaborated with many renowned Architects, Landscape Architects and Structural Engineers including Lyons, LDA, Gillespies, BDP, GROSS MAX, Conran & Partners, Simmonds Studio, Price & Myers, Arup and Ramboll.
Wolfgang has created sculptures on four continents, and has won an array of awards including the International Structural Steel Award for projects under £2million (2013) and was the first western artist to win the prestigious Kajima Gold Award in Japan for ‘Space’ (2014).
Website : Wolfgang Buttress
Hannah Corbett – Commissioner General
Hannah Corbett is a diplomat whose career has focused on promoting British political and economic interests overseas and providing consular support for UK nationals. Prior to taking up her appointment as Commissioner General in January 2014, Hannah headed the department responsible for the UK’s relations with the European Mediterranean countries, including Italy and British Gibraltar.
Tristan Simmonds (Simmonds Studio) – UK Pavilion structural engineers
Simmonds Studio is a specialist design practice that designs, engineers and realises innovative sculptural and architectural structures.
With a track record of designing and engineering some of the world’s largest lightweight structures and structurally ambitious sculptures with artists such as Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley, Tristan Simmonds established Simmonds Studio in 2009 to expand on collaborative work with artists and architects and to carry out design commissions of its own.
The practice adopts a rigorous analytical approach to design, involving the development of its own innovative digital methods and tools specific for each project. This approach allows the practice to carry out design from conceptual ‘digital sculpting’, engineering design, structural optimisation, through to the production of fabrication data in an entirely holistic manner. The result of this approach ensures that through accurate costing, communication and practical construction techniques complex and un-conventional designs can be realistically and affordably built.
Squint Opera – UK Pavilion creative agency
Squint Opera is a creative agency producing digital media, interactive software, graphics, creative technology and installations for the cultural sector and the built environment. Recent projects include an animated media wall for Weill Cornell Medical College, New York (2014), and multiple exhibits for the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, including: Hollywood Costume (2012-15), Horst: Photographer of Style (2014) and The Glamour of Italian Fashion (2014).
Specialising in highly immersive experiences, they have delved into the history of the world’s best-known detective for the Museum of London Sherlock Holmes exhibition (2014) and created a series of installations for the permanent First World War galleries at the Imperial War Museum, London (2014). Their contribution to the UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015 has been to punctuate the visitor journey with innovative concepts in graphic design and animation.
Stage One – UK Pavilion manufacture and production
Winner of a 2013 Queen’s Award for Continuous Innovation, Stage One works within the architecture, theatre and event industries. The company’s unique strength is their ingenuity – finding ways to realise the creative visions of their clients, no matter how extreme.
Established for over 25 years, Stage One combines design, engineering and technology to deliver astonishing impact on a global platform. From launches to installations, from architecture to ceremonies, the company creates things that people remember forever. Their clients and partners are the world’s most creative minds and the best technical producers in construction, architecture, engineering, entertainment, corporate events and art.
Photography : Hufton+Crow
UK Pavilion Expo 2015 in Milan images / information received 210415
The Hive at Kew Gardens
photograph : Hufton+Crow
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Location: Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy
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