The World's Fair (or World Expo) has had a long and illustrious history, spanning all the way back to the 1850s. Throughout the years, the fair was a medium for countries to show off their technological advances, as well as highlight the more special aspects of its cultures. This year's expo is held in Milan, and has the theme of 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life', which I found extremely timely. When I found really cheap train tickets from Cannes to Milan, I decided that it was good to see what an expo is all about.
While many countries participated by building large dedicated pavilions, others were grouped into smaller 'clusters', each showcasing a food staple important to that country (coffee, rice, fruits/legumes, cocoa, grains/tubers, and spices). In total, over 140 countries were represented.
Throughout the span of 2 days, I was able to visit a good 30 or so pavillions/clusters. It would take way too long to write about every single one, so here are just some of my highlights.
Most Visually Impressive Pavilions
Pavilion Zero
Situated near the entrance of the expo, Pavilion Zero offered an introduction to the world of today's food. Large displays were shown highlighting food shortage around the world, and the economy of waste that has risen in developed countries. While definitely impressive, Pavilion Zero ultimately didn't offer any answers, which left me scratching my head.
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| Wall of grains |
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| The 'futures' of food. Produce and other food products are publicly traded around the world. The question this poses is... what then becomes more important, feeding the world population, or financial gain? |
China
With over a billion mouths to feed, food is probably one of China's biggest industries. This marks the first expo that China has a presence in, and it definitely decided to come in with a bang. The pavilion itself was a beautiful masterpiece, all flowing lines and light. Several important crops were highlighted (rice, wheat), and short presentations were made in regards to the technological advances the country is striving for. Ultimately though, it was really the giant LED field of wheat that stole the show.
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| The pavilion was large and beautiful. While many countries decided on making large dark buildings (perhaps to better showcase multimedia presentations), China went the other route; the whole space was bathed in natural light. |
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| The highlight of the pavilion was the thousands of LED lights, representing a large wheat field. The lights changed colors as visitors moved around the room. |
U.K.
While visually beautiful, I have to admit that this pavilion left me puzzled. Is the U.K. known for their... bees...?
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| The focus of the U.K. pavilion was this large hive-like structure. Visitors were able to climb up and go inside, which offered an interesting view. |
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| A bee's view of the expo grounds. |
Informative and appealing
Iran
In an overload of dazzle, the Iran pavilion features giant screens that depicted various landscape of the country. Visitors walked through this half-open tunnel, surrounded by various herbs and plants of the region. If nothing else, it smelled great!
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| The outside of the pavilion. I entered mostly due to the fact that there was no line, but ended up impressed with the pretty presentation. |
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| The inside of the pavilion. It looked like a tunnel to the future! On each side, visitors were surrounded by various herbs and plants, all smelling delicious! |
Korea
On my first day of the expo, the bad weather shut the Korean pavilion down for a while (it looked like a piece of the roof was dislodged by high winds). When the pavilion was open though, it always looked constantly mobbed with long lines. I finally decided to wait on the second evening before the light show... and I'm glad I did!
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| The outside of the pavilion. Smooth and sleek, the structure reminded me of a modern art museum. |
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| The pavilion was definitely a mix of high art and message. I think this display represented... obesity....? |
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| Visitors got to watch a 3 minute... show... where two big screens held up by robotic arms twirled around while showing pictures of food. Um. Yeah, not sure what that had to do with feeding the world. |
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| Apparently, Korea just wants to feed the world kimchi. Lots of LOTS of kimchi. |
Belgium
The first thing that I think of in regards to the country of Belgium are its chocolates. And their pavilion didn't disappoint; there was plenty of chocolate on display, and even a chocolatier on site making confectioneries. But in addition to that, the lower floor of Belgium's pavilion showcased various techniques they were developing for farming... giving a sense of the future that I really appreciated.
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| Not impressive from the outside, but one of the more thematically-sensitive pavilions of the expo. |
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| Chocolate on display! |
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| A rotating circular growing pod for produce. |
Supermarket of the Future
In the future, when we all fly around in jetpacks or hoverboards, we'll apparently be still doing our own grocery shopping. This pavilion gives us a glimpse of that future, which actually doesn't look entirely different from what we do today.
Foodstuffs will still be laid out in the traditional style, and the biggest change will be the foods' display signs. Equipped with electronic sensors, these screens will notice when a shopper points to, or picks up a product. It then zooms in to display various facts about the food: what ingredients it is comprised of, where those ingredients come from, any potential allergens in the food, nutritional information, and its carbon footprint.
While fascinating, I do wonder about the economical viability of such a system. While it may work for some of the more affluent cities of the world, it really isn't helping poorer countries feed its population. Still though, it was a fun side trip in my day, since visitors were encouraged to do some real food shopping.
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| Supermarket of the fuuuuuuture. Everything looks so clean, eh? |
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| Information about food is displayed on screens. Would this discourage me from getting junk food and snacks? Probably not. |
And other notable/interesting pavilions...
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| Czech Republic. I had to look this up, but this bird/airplane hybrid sculpture represents the country's commitment to both nature and technology. Pretty spiffy to look at too. |
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| Brazil's pavilion consisted of a large net that visitors traversed. Online, it states that the theme of this pavilion is "Feeding the world with solutions". In reality though, all the schoolkids just had a blast walking on the nets. |
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| Russia's pavilion building featured a massive mirrored roof. It was quite dizzying to stand right below it, and look up. |
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| The interior of the Lithuania pavilion was dark, with a giant interactive ball in the middle. Pretty, and an interesting way to get information across, but not entirely necessary. |
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| Austria is known for their... air...? The Austrian pavilion featured a small outdoor trail lined with trees and plants, and signs telling visitors to 'breathe'. Hm. |
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| I really wanted to go into the Switzerland pavilion towers. They were filled with products that were free for the taking: sugar, coffee, water, and apples. Visitors were welcome to take as much as they wanted. Supply though, was limited, and the towers would not be refilled for the duration of the 6 month expo. This then, became a social experiment, on consumption and saving for the future. I found this really interesting, and was disappointed to not have the opportunity to see how much of each item was left, as there is only about a month before closing. |
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| The Azerbaijan pavilion was very pretty at night |
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| The USA pavilion was ultimately disappointing. With food trucks lined along the street level, and a roof bar/cafe on top, it seemed to speak more about the excesses of food rather than conservation. The center floor was reserved for a handful of boring kiosks with videos about farming in America. The saving grace of the pavilion was the vertical wall garden that lined the far side of the building. Interesting idea, but not really enough. |
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| I thought the Turkey pavilion was beautiful. It was an open space with little exhibits of Turkish products, and plenty of space for visitors to relax and buy a cup of Turkish coffee |
Amazingly, this was only a portion of what I saw in two days. While large and visually impressive, going to the World Expo felt remarkably like going to Epcot Center. Fun, but doesn't particularly scratch below the surface. In this world of technology, I wonder about the necessity of an event like this. It's just as easy to save up to go to Romania, let's say, as it is to go to Italy. And maybe because the theme of the expo was about feeding the world, all I could think of in my two days was the colossal waste being generated by this place. In the end, I'm glad to have gone, but still feel a twinge of guilt when I realize my relatively privileged status in this world.
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| The evening light show by the Tree of Life. The tree lit up in patterns, in time with music. Sprays of water and fireworks also accompanied this 12 minute show. |
