Osaka 2025, an 'Ideal City' that looks to the future for Italy

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 24 - A pavilion that tells the story of Italy's past splendour, its art and artisan skills, but also the story of a country that wants to focus strongly on the future, on innovation and sustainability, promoting Italian companies and products and taking Italy closer to Japan and the whole of Asia in the process - that is the pavilion Italy will build for Expo Osaka 2025.
    The pavilion project was presented on Monday by Commissioner General for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka, Ambassador Mario Vattani, at the Rome headquarters of Unioncamere as part of the XIV Festival della Diplomazia (Festival of Diplomacy).
    Vattani was preceded by Japanese Ambassador to Italy Suzuki Satoshi's presentation of the Expo structure - which is being built on an artificial island in Japan's second city - featuring a wooden 'ring' around a vast area where the national pavilions will be hosted with a man-made forest at the centre.
    "We expect 28.2 million visitors, a highly ambitious goal," explained the Japanese ambassador.
    "The ring, which it will be possible to walk on and will be dismantled and recycled at the end of the Expo, is the symbol of unity in diversity".
    The envoy then explained the various aspects of the Osaka 2025 theme, Designing Future Societies for Our Lives.
    "It aims to be a place where the world's wisdom is collected" and where each pavilion will have to devote space to at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said.
    As he showed the rendering of the Italian Pavilion, designed by Mario Cucinella, Vattani highlighted how the entrance was a reference to the 'Ideal City' paintings that are among the symbols of the Italian Renaissance, and how the pavilion develops on various levels for its various functions.
    "There are no people and no greenery in the ideal city (paintings)," he said.
    "We, on the other hand, have put a garden next to the restaurant on the terrace, for example, where there is a restaurant that looks towards the sunset.
    "A terrace that can be admired by those walking on the ring".
    The commissioner - an expert on Japan - stressed the strength of the historic ties between Rome and Japan and how Japan is crucial for shifting our outlook towards Asia.
    "It's the region of the world that looks most to the future, it makes plans, it is the most ambitious region in the world," he said.
    "We want Italian young people and companies to come into contact with Asia and the future. A wooden structure, built with the Japanese company Nishio, seeks to display modernity, elegance and sustainability".
    Vattani added that, for the first time at a universal exposition, the Italian Pavilion will host a space for the Holy See, and he said that the whole structure will be modular, capable of hosting all kinds of events, meetings and presentations, from those regarding art to gastronomy, craftsmanship and agriculture.
    "But, for us, art is not just painting, sculpture or music, it is also craftsmanship and know-how," he said. "And our slogan will be art regenerates life".
    The ambassador said work on the pavilion should begin this December.
    Plenipotentiary Minister Andrea Canepari of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation's central directorate for integrated promotion and innovation also took part in the presentation.
    Canepari stressed how Italy's participation at Expo Osaka was developing via close cooperation between the ministry and the commissioner general in the direction set out by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
    "The minister considers diplomacy to be a key element for growth," Canepari said. "The experience of this pavilion will be able to provide the tools on how to implement it (diplomacy for growth) to our embassies around the world.
    "This is why he wanted the ministry to be heavily involved in the event". (ANSA).