Sightseeing, Events, Exhibitions

EXPO 2015 in Milan: guide, getting there, practical information

Posted on by Anna
Tree of Life, symbol Expo Milano 2015, rzeźba z efektami świetlnymi i wodnymi
14
Apr

World Expo 2015

Logo EXPO 2015EXPO 2015 Milan will take place from May 1st to October 31st, 2015. Nearly 150 countries from around the world have announced their participation in EXPO 2015. The exhibition is organized by Expo 2015 SpA, a company founded by the Italian government, the Lombardy region, the Province of Milan, the city of Milan, and the Milan Chamber of Commerce. Its theme is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” and it covers all topics related to nutrition, the problem of food shortages in certain regions of the world, nutrition education, nutritional quality, and all topics related to GMOs.

Technologies, innovations, culture, traditions, and creativity in connection with the food industry and food will be on the agenda. The main demand is the right to healthy, safe food and enough of it for all inhabitants of the earth.

EXPO 2015 Leading Topics

  • Improving food quality and safety, with safety being considered having enough food to survive and consuming healthy food and drinking water;
  • to provide quality and healthy food for all people to eliminate hunger, thirst, infant mortality and malnutrition;
  • preventing nutrition-related social diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other widespread epidemics, emphasizing practices that enable effective treatment of these diseases;
  • innovations in research, technology and the food industry as a whole to improve food nutrition, storage and distribution;
  • emphasis on proper education on nutrition and the promotion of new lifestyles, especially among children, adolescents, people with disabilities and the elderly;
  • expanding knowledge of “traditions in nutrition” as cultural and ethnic elements.
  • preservation of biodiversity, protection of the environment as an agricultural ecosystem, and protection of food quality and safety.
  • Identifying the best tools for monitoring and innovation, starting with biotechnologies that do not pose environmental and health risks, to ensure the availability of healthy and nutritious food and clean water for drinking and irrigation;
  • to provide new sources of food in areas of the world where agriculture is undeveloped or threatened by desertification of land and forests, drought and famine, and depletion of fisheries.

EXPO 2015 Location

The area selected for the exhibition is located in the northwestern part of Milan and is 90% within Milan, with the remaining 10% in Rho. It covers an area of 110 hectares adjacent to the new Fiera Milano exhibition center.

The area was once occupied by industrial and manufacturing facilities and later used for agricultural, logistical, and municipal service purposes. The exhibition space was created in the form of an island surrounded by a water canal and is centered along two perpendicular axes: World Avenue (decumanus) and the intersecting “cardo,” inspired by the architecture of Roman cities. According to the principle of equality, all national pavilions are located along a grand boulevard that is 1.5 km long and 35 meters wide.

Along the cardo, 325 meters long and 35 meters wide, pavilions of Italian regions and provinces are organized. At the confluence of the two axes is a large square (Piazza Italia) with an area of 4,350 square meters. At the northern end of the cardo is Palazzo Italia, which is the pavilion of the exhibition organizer, overlooking Lake Arena, a lake arena 98 meters in diameter. At the southern end of the Cardo is the Open Air Theater, which covers an area of about 10,000 square meters and has a total seating capacity of about 9,000.

At the ends of the decumanus, on the other hand, it is planned to place a large artificial hill (with a volume of 82,800 cubic meters) on one side, while the Expo Center, consisting of three independent functional blocks: an auditorium (south block), a performance area (central block) and a building with offices (north block), totaling about 6,300 square meters. The first two blocks are to be dismantled after the Expo ends while the building with offices will remain. The two main entrances to the expo, to the south and west, connect the cascina Merlata area and and the suburban section of the Fiera Milano exhibition center, respectively.

Getting to EXPO 2015

You can reach the exhibition by using the red line of the Milan Metro MM1 and getting off at the Rho Fiera station, which connects the exhibition with the city center. Alternatively, you can also get off at the Rho Fiera Milano railway station, using the suburban or regional train lines. For more information about the transportation network, visit the Public Transport in Milan page.

Wystawa znajduje się również w pobliżu autostrad: A4, A8 i A9 Mediolan-Como-Laghi. Łatwo jest również dojechać z jednego z trzech lombardzkich lotnisk: mediolańskich Malpensa i Linate bądź Orio al Serio w Bergamo. Wystawa będzie również połączona z miastem dzięki projektowi “Via d’Acqua”, który obejmuje przebudowę stacji dokującej (przy piazza XXIV Maggio i odcinków Naviglio w celu połączenia centrum miasta z Expo 2015 wzdłuż ścieżki dla pieszo-rowerowej, która biegnie przez Parco delle Cave.

Anna Bujanowska


Anna

I lived in Milan for 18 years, and it was there that I came to know the city’s daily life best - not just its landmarks, but also its rhythm, its habits, and its less obvious sides. Today I live in Wrocław, but I still return to Milan regularly.