Project
2014 - first prize
Execution
2015
Investor
Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development
Location
Milan, Italy
Area
2000m2
Design team
Piotr Musiałowski, Michał Adamczyk, Stanisław Ignaciuk, Michał Lenczewski
Cooperation
Piotr Bylka, Paulina Pankiewicz
The idea behind the project for the Polish Pavilion at EXPO 2015 in Milan refers to Polish orchards and horticulture, very significant to the Polish landscape and economy. It is being realized through the use of a motif of a wooden apple box, normally used in shipment as a packaging for fruits and vegetables.
The idea is executed on two levels. In the micro scale through the use of the pavilion's modular, openwork outside wall, visually referring to the aforementioned apple boxes, and in the macro scale by conveying the pavilion's idea as a form of packaging for the presentation of Poland's agriculture.
The pavilion's layout leads visitors through a symbolic 'secret' garden, hidden behind an openwork 'box-like' structure. The garden itself consists of endless rows of apple trees, very characteristic to the Polish landscape. The image isn't given to the visitors at once. In order to understand it a person needs to make their way down a long and winding road. The contrast between the entrance, the crevice's narrow and tall space, and the garden's horizontal and endless space is the essence of the feeling the pavilion is supposed to evoke in its visitors.
The illusion of the garden's expanse and endlessness is created by the use of mirrors, elements made from polished, chrome-plated metal, which the entire inner wall is covered with in order to multiply the reflections in every possible direction.
It creates a place full of light, freedom, and space. It resembles an Italian 'piazza', a square around which the lives of Italian cities are concentrated, here, quite surprisingly, 'thrown' into the centre of a Mazovian apple orchard. The design team states that in this area it will be possible to organize various events as a part of the exhibition. What is worth noting is that, thanks to the square's abstract background, each event should be distinctive and memorable.
