A view of China pavilion at the Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy, Saturday, May 2, 2015. The Expo opened Friday May 1 for a six-month run and its theme is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". (Photo/China Daily)
Since its opening on May 1, the China Pavilion in Expo Milano 2015 has welcomed more than 2 million visitors, becoming one of the most popular pavilions in the expo.
From May 1 to Oct 31, about 145 countries, three international organizations and 13 nongovernmental organizations are scheduled to take part in the expo, which is expected to attract more than 20 million visitors.
Wang Rui, deputy pavilion director of China Pavilion Expo Milano 2015, told China Daily that this is the first time China has built its pavilion in a world expo independently.
This year, the country is presenting the second-largest foreign pavilion at the expo, which is themed "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".
The China Pavilion has a total construction surface area of 4,590 square meters, making it the second-largest pavilion after the Italian one.
In the past four months, the China Pavilion received an average of 10,000 daily visitors, and that could peak at 20,000, Wang said. But the pavilion's innovative design means visitors will not have to wait in long lines to get in, Wang said.
"Agricultural civilization" forms the core concept of the China Pavilion. It is structured like a thatched cottage used by Chinese farmers to rest after hours of laboring in paddy fields.
The pavilion also embodies the project's theme, "The Land of Hope"－the roof is covered by a layer of shingled bamboo, making the building seem like a moving wheat field under the breeze from a distance. According to Wang, the roof panels were designed via a unique digital process by China's Tsinghua University. The building combines existing civilization concepts and ideas for future development.
"The China Pavilion is aimed at merging the two perspectives together. As an ancient civilization, agriculture and food safety are important issues to China, while sustainability is also a crucial element for future development," Wang said. Sustainability in the design is reflected in half opened spaces to lower energy consumption and generate less waste.
Beneath the roof, a landscaped field representing the concept of "land" incorporates the building's exhibition program. With a 20-minute multimedia installation consisting of 22,000 LED stalks integrated into the landscape, visitors from the second floor are able to see different beautiful patterns, including traditional terraced fields, colorful flowers and changing lights made by the stalks .
Many Italian visitors, including high-level officials, have expressed their fondness for the pavilion. Margherita Barberis, director-general of Foundation Italy China, told China Daily that she went to the pavilion a few times already, but it still impresses her every time she visits.
