Modernist baobab

Paula Nascimento explains the genesis and construction of the Angola Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 to Domus. It was designed to be dismantled but looks like a permanent construction.

Padiglione Angola, Expo Milano 2015
We interviewed Paula Nascimento, the architect of the Angola Pavilion – 34 years old, female and probably the youngest architect in a relevant position to work on the Expo.

Domus: How did you get here?

Paula Nascimento: I worked for Angola on the Korean international Expo in 2012. The other me absolutely loves Expos and I’ve been visiting them since Zaragoza 2008. My involvement in the Korean Expo allowed me to form a close relationship with the Angolan commission for this Expo too; it was a fairly natural progression. The fact that I had already worked in Italy probably helped too.

Padiglione Angola, Expo Milano 2015, facciata sul decumano
Angola Pavilion, Expo Milano 2015, the facade on Decumano. Top and above: photo Eduardo Grilo

Domus: You mean on the Biennale or, rather, the two Venice exhibitions (art and architecture)?

Paula Nascimento: Yes, but the curious thing is that while I was working on the Venice exhibitions, I was also working on the Expos. I see these experiences as “training courses”.

Domus: How did you resolve the relationship between green and built spaces, one of the Expo requirements for the design of the pavilions?

Paula Nascimento: We didn’t want anything complicated and we felt it important to highlight the country’s numerous microclimates. This immediately turned it into a creative process that resulted in four different gardens, inside and outside. The plants were chosen for their dietary, medicinal and cultural importance and we were fortunate enough to find them in Europe so that they didn’t have to be imported from Angola.

Padiglione Angola, Expo Milano 2015
Angola Pavilion, Expo Milano 2015. Photo Eduardo Grilo

Domus: What references inspired the Pavilion’s architecture?

Paula Nascimento: Several major ones: modern tropical architecture, particularly that of Brazil’s Vilanova Artigas, but also our own everyday Angolan architecture. I’m thinking mainly of the market designed by Vieira da Costa in Luanda and demolished a few years ago. The rear facade of the pavilion references the brise-soleil and then there is the strong symbol of the tree, which constitutes the exhibition’s support structure.

Padiglione Angola, Expo Milano 2015
Angola Pavilion, Expo Milano 2015. View of the exhibition, in the center the "baobab". Photo Mario Escercio

Domus: How did you resolve the issue of the building’s sustainability?

Paula Nascimento: We created a modular metal structure designed to be dismantled. The second part of the pavilion is in interlocked prefabricated concrete and the rest is plywood. One of the first questions we asked ourselves was how to dismantle the pavilion, not just because this is required by the Expo rules but as we would like to take it back to Angola. It can be transported in about 100 containers although we don’t know whether it will be. That goes beyond our technical knowhow.

Domus: James Biber, the architect of the USA pavilion, has said that the thought of dismantling the pavilion breaks his heart.

Paula Nascimento: (laughing) Of course you become attached to what you build but the most important thing for me is the process, more than the outcome. Nevertheless, my dream is that the pavilion will return to Angola to be used by the local population. We don’t have anything like it there and it could easily serve as a cultural centre or school.

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Angola Pavilion
General commissioner: Albina Assis Africano
Architect: Paula Nascimento, António Gameiro
Project team: Atlantic Alliance & MUSE Architecture Department; Masterplanstudio Milano
Structures: ETS – Engineering and Technical Studio spa
Area:
2000 sqm

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