EARTH SCREENING | CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

New Holland Agriculture, one of the world's top manufacturers of agricultural machinery, have chosen the design by the international team led by RecchiEngineering, as the winner of the international competition for their 17,000 square foot pavilion at the World Expo 2015 in Milan. The innovative, architectural proposal, conceived by Carlo Ratti Associati, a leading design office based in Turin, London and Boston, is called EARTH SCREENING, which features a large agricultural field on its roof, similar to a giant 3D printer thanks to the constant activity of two robotized, self-driving tractors. “The idea of EARTH SCREENING is not just about self-driving tractors, which can draw patterns on the roof of the building. It is about how we can sense and respond to the conditions of the soil to a degree that was impossible before. This points to a future where an agricultural field could be considered as a giant base for ‘agricultural printing’, with major advantages foreseen in terms of plant biodiversity and resource preservation - an idea proposed by my colleague, Benedikt Gross”, says professor Carlo Ratti, partner at Carlo Ratti Associati and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab. The two tractors, which will be zero-emission and use energy generated on-site, will constantly move over the roof, 'writing' and working the land. “In the same way as self-driving cars are expected to revolutionize urban mobility, advanced robotic technologies are reshaping agriculture, with a new wave of innovations helping us to better respond to local terrain conditions”, Ratti added. "While the roof uses real moving tractors, inside the pavilion we tried to reproduce the working conditions of other key pieces of agricultural equipment - from tractors to combine harvesters - in a physical and digital way," says Walter Nicolino, architect at Carlo Ratti Associati. Using a sort of ‘augmented rurality’, made of large screens featuring dynamic footage collected from fields across the world as the backdrop for static agricultural equipment, visitors are taken on a journey that closely mirrors the seasons and cultivation cycles and taught about energy and sustainable farming. Building on the great tradition of International Exhibitions since 1851, EXPO Milano 2015 will be a global event focused on the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life", with over 130 participant countries and visitors expected in excess of 20 million. New Holland Agriculture, a world industry leader in agricultural manufacturing and sustainability and part of CNH Industrial, is a global partner of EXPO Milano 2015; the Expo’s theme resonates strongly with New Holland’s commitment to sustainable farming. Emanuela Recchi, chairman of RecchiEngineering, describes EARTH SCREENING as “a pavilion capable of expressing the principles of sustainability, efficiency, and energy production of a modern ‘Sustainable Farm’.” In line with New Holland Agriculture’s international role as Clean Energy Leader®, the design concept proposes an innovative and efficient pavilion from the point of view of energy use, allowing visitors to interact with the latest research, products and innovations developed by New Holland. The aim is that the energy for the pavilion - including that for the selfdriving tractors on the roof - will be generated on site. After the Expo, the New Holland pavilion will be dismantled and reconstructed in a second location as an innovative didactic farm, embodying the very idea of recycling and sustainability. The multidisciplinary team of professionals - with experience in architecture at an international level, and skills in environmental sustainability, exhibition design and construction and structural engineering - developed the design for EARTH SCREENING. RecchiEngineering (one of the leading companies in the field of project and construction management in Italy, also involved in the conception of the Italian pavilion at EXPO Milano 2015) led the bid and managed the team; Carlo Ratti Associati (leading design office based in Turin, London and Boston, also involved in EXPO Milano 2015 as curators of the ‘Future Food District’, the design for which will be unveiled in early 2014) are the designers of the EARTH SCREENING concept; NÜSSLI (leading international supplier of temporary structures and logistics for events, trade fairs and exhibitions, also involved in the realization of the pavilions for Germany and Kuwait at EXPO Milano 2015) bring their experience in construction management from the earliest stages of the design process; Manens-Tifs (internationally accredited engineering specialists in energy and environmental systems, as well as environmental sustainability consultants for EXPO 2015) are responsible for ensuring the most efficient and advanced technologies are deployed in the proposal; and Studio M. Durbano (experts in the field of structural engineering) are responsible for ensuring the structural feasibility and the assembly, disassembly and re-usability of the proposal after the Expo event. Group leader and project manager: Recchi Engineering Project designer: Carlo Ratti Associati Feasibility and construction management: NUSSLI Sustainability consultants: Manens-Tifs Ingegneria Structural engineering: M. Durbano Ingegnere