Expo Milano 2015 • "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life"

From 1 May to 31 October 2015 Milan hosted the universal exposition on the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life." 137 countries, four international organizations, 13 civil society organizations and around thirty sponsors participated in this major event that welcomed 21,5 million visitor in all. Switzerland was the first country to commit to and sign the participation contract in 2011. The Swiss Pavilion has welcomed a total of 2.1 million visitors.

The Swiss pavilion invited the public on an astonishing voyage of discovery to Switzerland, taking in the wonders of its agriculture and cuisine. The towers were the heart of the Swiss pavilion. The four products that were chosen for the towers – water, salt, coffee and apples – represented Swiss sustainability, responsibility and innovation, and showed a country true to its traditions. The towers were filled just once at the start of the expo and emptied gradually at different rates, depending on the behaviour of visitors.

Would there be enough for everyone? The change undergone by the Swiss pavilion's towers drew a great deal of public attention, as it challenged visitors' attitudes, confronting them both materially and emotionally with their relationship to resources through the concepts of scarcity, abundance, rationing, selfishness, altruism and individual responsibility.

Designed by the architects of Netwerch, the Swiss pavilion also included a restaurant and a takeaway serving Swiss specialities and wines, an exhibition by the Gotthard partner cantons devoted to water, exhibitions by the partner cities of Basel, Geneva and Zurich, an interactive scientific exhibition by Nestlé, an installation devoted to the New Rail Link through the Alps, Switzerland Tourism’s Switzerball installation, the Swiss Chocolate Workshop, and the interactive Plant Doctor Game which had the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

More than 70% of the materials used in the construction of the Swiss pavilion and its infrastructure have been recycled.