The team behind the upcoming Milan Expo is putting the finishing touches to the world fair before its debut in May.

The six-month expo will be the second to be held in Milan and has been five years in the making since its November 2010 announcement. Using the theme feeding the planet, energy for life, the 2015 Expo will bring together more than 140 countries designing pavilions that embrace technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity and how they relate to food and diet.

Masterplaned by a team consisting of Jacques Herzog, Mark Rylander, Ricky Burdett, Stefano Boeri, and William McDonough, each pavillion will range from 400sq m (4,305sq ft) to 6,000sq m (64,583 sq ft), with around 50 per cent of the Expo area occupied by pavilions. 35 per cent of the area is dedicated to external space, while 15 per cent comprises a green perimeter around the expo site. In addition, the site will include a large artificial lake surrounded by 20 pavilions representing each of the Italian regions, a 12,000-seat amphitheatre and a 6,000 seat auditorium.

Each pavilion for each country has been worked on by different architectural teams. Some of the biggest and most interesting include:

• European Pavilion - BRC Imagination
• UAE - Foster + Partners
• China - Daniel Libeskind/Studio Link-Arc
• Italy - Nemesi & Partners
• US - Biber Architects
• UK - Wolfgang Buttress
• Azerbaijan - Simmetrico Network
• Slovenia - SoNo Arhitekti
• Israel - Knafo Klimor-Design
• Czech Republic - Chybik + Kristof
• Spain - b720
• Vietnam - Vo Trong Nghai
• Austria - team.breathe.austria
• Thailand - The Office of Bangkok Architects (OBA)
• Iran - Naqsh,E,Jahan-Pars (NJP)


In addition, architect Carlo Ratti has supervised Expo's Future Food District, with the aim to explain how the food chain will evolve by extensively implementing IT to food conservation, distribution, purchasing and consumption. Davide Rampello is supervising Pavilion Zero, which has been designed to introduce visitors to the site.

"We're working on the final touches and the flow of people," said Expo commissioner, Giuseppe Sala speaking at an ANSA forum. “We are 'selling' Milan in all its facets.

"Up to now, we've sold 8.5 million tickets with two months to go to the opening," he added.

"We're optimistic. We've sold one million tickets in the United States, 300,000 in Argentina and we've had a great response from the Far East, especially China".

The Expo kicks-off on 1 May and runs through to the end of October. The expo will also be the first place to offer a sneak peek at the upcoming World Expo Museum, which debuts in May 2016.