The U.S. government, which has had a spotty record of participation in World Expos, is hoping to make a strong showing in Milan, where an eco-themed fair will open on May 1, 2015. In late July, the State Department issued a request for proposals for a U.S. pavilion, which would be privately funded and would occupy most of a 30,000-square-foot site. The U.S. would be joining some 130 other countries that have signaled their intentions to appear at the Expo. ("Registered" expos, sanctioned by the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions, occur once every five years. The U.S. mounted respectable, but not stellar, pavilions in Aichi, Japan, in 2005 and Shanghai in 2010.)
The fair will occupy a site northwest of Milan, near the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed Fiera Milano convention center. Its theme is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," which is one reason the RFP suggests that the U.S. pavilion include a "a food demonstration or exhibition." (It must also include a gift shop and a VIP hospitality area.) Proposers are expected to include plans for raising the projected $25 to $45 million cost of building, running, and then razing the pavilion. Though drawings are not required—the RFP is not a design competition—proposers can include renderings, according to Barry Levin of the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Proposals are due on September 15, just over six weeks from the date the RFP was issued, a seemingly impossible deadline for any firm without deep pockets and expo experience. (A similar process for 2010 produced a workaday U.S. pavilion by Clive Grout, a Vancouver architect.)
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