Thanks to the Breathe.Austria project, overseen by Klaus K. Loenhart, Director of the Institute of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Graz, the Austria Pavilion was ranked in the top six for the number and significance its initiatives in the Design&Material category of the Towards a Sustainable Expo competition.
Organised by the Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with Expo 2015 SpA, and deriving from the key theme of Expo Milano 2015 "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life", the aim of the competition is to give official recognition to the participants who have taken the most effective action to minimise their environmental impact over the course of the Expo.
In this respect, the Austria Pavilion is a combination of architectural solutions and futuristic urban design, which takes full advantage of the performance of nature.
It plays host to a typical Austrian wood covering an area of 560m2, it produces 62.5kg of oxygen per hour and absorbs 92kg of CO2 per day, thereby creating a microclimate with a temperature that is consistently 5°C lower than the exterior environment, without using any air conditioning.
The Pavilion contains a misting system that brings the right amount of water to the plants and is remotely controlled by a home automation system, which also controls its energy consumption so as to prevent waste.
Even in terms of power generation, the design draws inspiration from nature, because the pavilion's electricity is generated by dye-sensitised solar cells, also known as Grätzel cells, whose technology is based on the principle of photosynthesis, and transforms light into electricity. When Expo comes to an end, the trees will then be replanted in Northern Italy, and the wooden interior walls will be recycled.