carlo ratti to design new holland pavilion for expo milan 2015

carlo ratti to design new holland pavilion for expo milan 2015

it has been announced that carlo ratti associati, with recchi engineering have been selected by new holland agriculture (NHA), one of the world’s top manufacturers of agricultural machinery’, to design its 17,000 square foot sustainable farming pavilion for the expo milan 2015; whose focus will be on the theme of ‘feeding the planet, energy for life’. the winning proposal ‘earth screening’ will see the installment of a mammoth, angled agricultural field, with two robotized, self-driving tractors navigating their way over its surface.

the 17,000 square foot scheme will focus on the theme of ‘feeding the planet, energy for life’

‘the idea of earth screening is not just about self-driving tractors, which can draw patterns on the roof of the building. it is about how we can sense and respond to the conditions of the soil to a degree that was impossible before. this points to a future where an agricultural field could be considered as a giant base for ‘agricultural printing’, with major advantages foreseen in terms of plant biodiversity and resource preservation – an idea proposed by my colleague, benedikt gross‘, says professor carlo ratti, partner at carlo ratti associati and director of the MIT senseable city lab. the two tractors, which will be zero-emission and use energy generated on-site, will constantly move over the roof, ‘writing’ and working the land. ‘in the same way as self-driving cars are expected to revolutionize urban mobility, advanced robotic technologies are reshaping agriculture, with a new wave of innovations helping us to better respond to local terrain conditions‘, ratti added.

visualization of the new holland agriculture pavilion from the rooftop stairs

‘while the roof uses real moving tractors, inside the pavilion we tried to reproduce the working conditions of other key pieces of agricultural equipment – from tractors to combine harvesters – in a physical and digital way,’ says walter nicolino, architect at carlo ratti associati. the team will use a kind of ‘augmented rurality’, consisting of large screens, that will project dynamic footage collected from agricultural fields from around the globe; this imagery will stand as a backdrop for NHA’s equipment. ‘earth screening’ has been conceived in such a way that it is meant to take visitors on a journey through the seasons and cultivation cycles, teaching them about energy and sustainable farming.

the interior’s will feature footage collected from fields from across the world that will stand as a backdrop

‘earth screening’ is described as ‘a pavilion capable of expressing the principles of sustainability, efficiency, and energy production of a modern ‘sustainable farm‘,’ by emanuele recchi, chairman of recchi engineering. the overall scheme will allow visitors to engage with the latest research on sustainable farming, as well as the innovative products developed by NHA. the conception of the structure has been such that the energy, including the self-driving tractors, will be generated on site. at the end of expo milan 2015, ‘earth screening’ will be dismantled and reconstructed in a second location as a didactic farm, further emphasizing this notion of ecological balance.

sustainability scheme