The Italian Pavilion

The pavilion, called The City of Man, is composed of 20 functional modules that can be assembled freely. Its design is inspired by the game of Mikado, which is called "Shanghai" in Italy and pick-up sticks elsewhere. In said game, children drop a batch of 20 to 30 sticks on a table and try to move one stick at a time without moving the others until all the sticks are cleared. The final project was selected from a field of 65 candidates in a competition among European Union entries, said Beniamino Quintieri, the commissioner general for Italy. The 20 modules represent the 20 regions of Italy, making the whole pavilion embody a mini Italian city.

The building's design also represents the harmony of different cultures and regions. When people walk in the pavilion, they feel themselves as walking in a city that combines Shanghai's Shikumen-style lanes and an Italian square, Quintieri said. Italy reserved a 6,000-square-meter plot of land for its pavilion. The edifice is made with cutting edge transparent cement which constitutes the 3,774 blocks of transparent concrete covering the building. Italcementi Group, an Italy-based cement maker, developed the transparent cement employed to build the pavilion. Although the Italian group has not fully disclosed what was put into the mixture to make the cement, they said it contains transparent thermoplastic resin and inorganic materials such as alumina which can become solid without the use of water. Each block is able to transmit 20% of the light passing through. Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of World Expo Shanghai Coordination, said that since Milan won the bid to host World Expo 2015, Italy is more than just a participant at Shanghai Expo. He said that China and Italy are the hosts of "sister Expos" and have many chances to share valuable experience.

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA License. It uses material from Wikipedia content.