Project Description
For Ecuador’s first standalone pavilion at an international exposition, Spanish firm Zorrozua y Asociados designed a structure that allows visitors to experience the country’s four geographic regions through food, nature, and quiet reflection. A colorful exterior boasts traditional patterns while referencing the country’s diverse landscape.
FROM MILAN EXPO 2015:
Theme "Journey to the Center of Life"
The Concept
For the first time, Ecuador participates with its own pavilion at a Universal Exposition, with the commitment and responsibility to show the world the essence of the people of Ecuador, the value of its natural and human resources and its cultural and environmental heritage.
Ecuador’s biodiversity is divided into four regions (Amazon, coastal, Sierra or Andean tract and islands) and together with the country’s diversity of ethnic groups, has resulted in a variety of culinary cultures. In the same country you can enjoy everything from coastal dishes using resources from the sea, to recipes made from Andean grains and to the dishes prepared by the ethnic groups of the Amazon. The chosen theme, "Journey to the Center of Life", celebrates the fact that Ecuador is centrally located on the planet as well as the word “center” referring to the origin, the essence and the beginning of everything.
The title also refers to the “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne. Ecuador wants to pay homage to Darwin’s journey aboard the H.M.S. Beagle to the Galapagos Islands, which the scientist called the "center of creation" and the Islands were critical in the development of his theory on the origins of species. The Pavilion’s design is divided into four themes: the first; A Diverse Country, highlights the different regional landscapes as a core of the country’s identity. The second area; Food as a Social Collective, is richer in content and information, and works to explain what is behind its dishes through a selection of representative products of traditional Ecuadorian food. The third area is entitled, Live Well, (in Quechua Sumak Kawsay) it offers a space for reflection, where the visitor can rest and think about the message just received in an area full of images, sounds and sensations. Finally the fourth area, Amor, is the most fun part of the Pavilion, and will bring a bit of Ecuador to Milan, in the form of a restaurant and a multifunctional space.