The United Kingdom’s Pavilion is always a laudable experience at any Expo. And Expo Milano 2015 is not an exception.The UK’s extremely evocative beehive-looking metallic structure has already became one of the most appreciated pavilions of the Universal Exposition in Milan. Created by the contemporary Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress, this pavilion offers a unique experiential journey taken from the perspective of a honeybee.
Exactly like a honeybee, a visitor first passes through a green and blooming landscape, through orchards and lush meadows. This naturalistic experience culminates then in a 14-meter height cubed sculptural and dynamic hive, a light and permeable structure that at first glance appears to be suspended in the air.Indeed, the UK pavilion is not a classic exhibition pavilion. It looks rather like an out-of-scale work of art. Built of 169,300 aluminum components it is assembled in 32 dizzying horizontal zig-zagging layers. Thus, from in and out the overall pavilion impression evokes in fact a real hive fully packed with thousands of busy bees.
Stunning design made in United Kindgom fully meets the theme of Expo 2015 entitled “Feed the planet. Energy for life”. In total it is almost 2 thousand square meters of immersive and sustainable experience that helps Expo guests to look at the world from a different point of view. Though, to change a perspective and to comprehend the uniqueness and the fragility of our only Earth and its subtle flora and fauna eco system is a challenging task. Yet the Wolfgang Buttress’s UK participation appears actually extremely capable to form this new critical point of view.
Maria Novozhilova
e-mail: novozhilovam.blog@gmail.com
twitter: @NovozhilovaM
