The competition for the Spanish Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 already has a winner. The Barcelona-based firm B720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos has been selected out of a total of thirty-one participants for an entry whose title, ‘The Language of Taste’, addresses the particular theme of the event – the global food problem – and which in its bold and contained geometry suggests, in the words of Culture Action, the organizer of the competition, “the qualities that our country exports: tradition and innovation.”

Budgeted at slightly over 900,000 euros, the building will go up on one of the choice spots of the exposition grounds, very close to the Italian and French pavilions, and it will be formed by the repetition of a structural frame, double and pointed, built with wood and bringing reminiscences of some sort of basic construction. Glass panes will be installed between wooden ribs, in accordance with a modular and intuitive rhythm and creating two bright concatenated sheds with an atmosphere resembling that of a greenhouse. In the interior, open areas – including a courtyard that has been planted with some orange trees – will be coexisting with a series of boxes made of cork, dried grass, barrel wood, and other materials alluding to Spanish agricutural tradition.

The competition jury bestowed second prize on Álvarez Riaño, Terrados Cepeda, and Suárez Corche, and three honorable mentions.