The German Pavilion translates the German field and meadow landscape into its architecture in a striking way: a building consisting of a gently sloping landscape level with a freely accessible surface and a thematic exhibition inside. The concept for the German Pavilion is characterised by special interaction between spatial and content presentation. One of the pavilion’s key design elements are stylised plants that grow as “idea seedlings” from the exhibition level below to the surface where a large canopy of leaves unfolds. These represent the connecting elements between indoor and outdoor space, between exhibition and architecture – where modern design using traditional materials, a natural ventilation concept and the economic use of resources converge. With the “SeedBoard”, a mobile interaction interface for navigating media exhibits and selectively accessing additional media information, the Pavilion offers a completely new exhibition experience while actively involving its visitors.

The organically flowing design language – floating leaves hovering over the landscape – creates a distinctive and unforgettable image. A modern design with traditional materials, a climate concept based on an economical use of resources and space, lean technologies and intelligent construction all converge in the German Pavilion. As early as in the pavilion’s planning and construction phase, “Fields of Ideas” provides sustainable, creative answers to the questions showcased at Expo. The expressive membrane roofs in the shape of emerging plants, inspired in their construction and bionic design language by nature, represent one of the pavilion’s key design elements. The modern steel and membrane structure reduces materials and makes for an extremely lightweight construction. The unusual, organic flowing lines express pioneering innovations inspired by nature. In the exhibition, the SeedBoard´s innovative intelligent linking of hardware, software, media production and tailored interaction principles allows for a new, playful and yet intuitive

With around three million visitors, the German Pavilion “Fields of Ideas” issued a positive final assessment at the close of Expo Milano 2015. One key factor was the consequent implementation of the Expo theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” in the exhibition design and the pavilion architecture. “Fields of Ideas” was named the best presentation of the Expo’s theme by the BIE, the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions, which is entrusted with supervising world exhibitions. The jury confirmed that the German Pavilion conveys in a special and interactive way the concept to the visitors. “It affirms our efforts to create a presentation which conveys to visitors Germany’s contributions to the theme of the Expo, which in this case is the gigantic problem of world hunger,” commented Dietmar Schmitz, General Commissioner of the Pavilion.