Architect designs 30-metre-long canopy for Russia’s Milan Expo pavilion

Russian-born German architect Sergei Tchoban has designed a 30-metre-long cantilevered canopy for Russia’s 2015 Milan Expo pavilion, whose theme this year is “Feeding the planet, Energy for Life”. The canopy, made from sustainably sourced timber and glass, will shelter the entrance to the Russian national pavilion and will feature a curving mirrored underside and a roof garden accessible to visitors above.

According to the architect, Tchoban and his team developed the pavilion as a celebration of Russian engineering. “Our basic starting point was to combine a simple yet memorable architectural structure with a facade formed from sustainable, ecologically sound materials,” Tchoban said. “But an equally important task in our architectural development was to inject the essence of Russia into the design.”

The use of timber for the structure was largely inspired by Russia’s huge tracts of forest, according to Tchoban, who said that the design was “obviously a reference to the typology of Russian landscape, with its rich forest cover and its gently sloping elevations … all coming together to create a modest, yet daring architectural statement”.

The structure will cover a 4,000 square metres and will sit atop a pair of transparent boxes that will form the base. Among other proposals unveiled so far include a 3D timber lattice from France and a beehive-like pavilion from the UK.

Expo Milan opens on 1 May 2015.