DETAIL Preis 2018

The Concept
From the Atacama Desert to Patagonia, from its central green valleys to its eastern islands, extreme geographical diversity will be a key feature of Chile’s showcase at Expo Milano 2015. As a main attraction, the pavilion takes visitors on a journey to experience its different ecosystems, deserts, rivers, valleys and mountains, showing how life grows and is preserved in each of them. Chile offers evidence of its pursuit of balance in a multitude of landscapes, cultures, foods and geographical landmarks that are unique in the world. Its aim is to entertain visitors, to promote an interest in its land and to demonstrate a commitment to its protection of water resources and sustainable food production for all. The main material used is wood, reminding us that the forest area of Chile is increasing, in contrast with the continuing deforestation on Earth.

The Design of the Pavilion
The architect Cristián Undurraga has succeeded in making the most of its position, which is right next to the Concert Arena, and a good reason for visiting the Chilean Pavilion, to experience its food and art. The architecture of the pavilion, which is spread over an area of ​​1,910 square meters, focuses on the art of hospitality. It is a suspended structure, a large wooden lintel enclosed by a frame of crossed beams and supported by four concrete pillars that create an intermediate space, a clear horizon, typical of Chilean architecture. The access point is a relaxation area with tables and benches. On entering the pavilion visitors will find the Chilean “dinner table,” with all its flavors and colors. A group of red statues, depicting Chilean farmers, indicates the path to follow. A corridor connects the exhibition hall with an area for tastings and events.

The large wooden structure, accessible by a central ramp, hosts an array of art works at its very center: photography, video, multimedia, graphics, furniture and sculptures. A tunnel surrounded by twenty-four synchronized projectors immerse visitors in a virtual reality experience, on a fishing boat at sea or in the vineyards of Carmenere. All these elements combine to illustrate the various regions and typical crops, communicating the diversity of its territory, the people, the fruits of the land, the imagery and the banquet that Chile offers to the world.



Pavilion General Comissioner: Lorenzo Constans

Architect: Cristian Undurraga
Executive Architect: Sebastian Mallea

Collaborators: Undurraga Deves Arquitectos
Laura Signorelli
Soledad Fernández
Max Daiber
Alejandra Martínez
Francisco Amado

Associate Architect: Hugo Silano
Content Design: Eugenio García
Visual and Media Design: riolab, francisco arevalo
Structural and mechanical engineering : F&M INGENIERÍA LTDA:
Sandro Favero
Nico Marchiori


Formally, the Chilean pavilion has been outlined as a bridge made of laminated pine wood whose wooden, reticulated structure is trusted with the expression and formal synthesis. It is a regular volume that is supported by 6 steel pillars, each with 3 arms. This allows us to liberate the noble floor by creating both a visual transparency and the free stroll of the visitors. This strategy establishes a close relationship between the urban space and the pavilion space, narrowing and fusing the line that has been drawn between the private and the public.

Constructively, we have set out a kind of Meccano where the simplicity and rationality of the system allow to quickly assemble the pavilion and to dismantle it and take it back to Chile. The idea is that the system and its assembly respond to constructive tradition proper of the material with half-wood, thus, diminishing the amount of ironwork.

The main structure is constituted by the reticulated beam that is located in the line of the metallic pillars. The exterior beam provides the pavilion with tridimensionality, and it also helps to balance the building.

The wooden, reticulated structure appears from distance as a totality (monumental scale), while the fragment appears in the closeness (quartering of the wood) that relates us to the body and gives the pavilion a human scale, making a resistance strategy out of the tectonic and handcrafted when opposed to the seduction of the vain spectacle.

The Pavilion’s interior has been developed as a neutral space easily adaptable to the programmatic demands that will reach high relevance after the Expo, considering the likely recycling of the building.

»Über Recycling wird in der Architektur derzeit viel diskutiert. Selten wurde es so konsequent umgesetzt wie bei diesem Gebäude, das 2015 als chilenischer Expo-Pavillon in Mailand diente und nun in Südchile eine neue Verwendung als Kulturzentrum gefunden hat. Das beginnt bereits bei der Grundkonzeption des Tragwerks: Wie ein Brückenträger ruht das gesamte Gebäude lediglich auf sechs umgedrehten Dreibeinen aus Stahl und benötigt so nur ein Minimum an Fundamenten. Die Fachwerkkonstruktion aus Kiefern-Leimholz prägt das Gebäude nicht nur außen, sondern durch den konsequenten Verzicht auf Verkleidungen auch im Inneren. Strukturelle Logik paart sich bei diesem Tragwerk mit Eleganz, weil Stahlbauteile konsequent minimiert oder geschickt den Blicken entzogen wurden. An ihrer Stelle feiern traditionelle Techniken der Holzverbindung eine Renaissance. Die Überdimensionierung der Holzbauteile ist in diesem Fall kein Manko, sondern stärkt den Ausdruck der Architektur überaus wirkungsvoll. Sie lässt sich überdies als politisches Statement lesen: Chile gibt sich mit diesem Bauwerk nicht nur als führender Holzproduzent zu erkennen, sondern zelebriert auch seine Kompetenz in der Holzverarbeitung und der Planung von Holztragwerken.«