Baku, November 19 AZERTAC

A press conference on results of Azerbaijan`s participation at Milan Expo 2015 has been held at the Heydar Aliyev Centre.

Director of the Heydar Aliyev Centre Anar Alakbarov highlighted a great deal of work carried out in participation of Azerbaijani pavilion at the Milan Expo.

Held under the motto Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, the Expo brought together 140 countries, only 54 out of them represented by their national pavilions.

The foundation of the Azerbaijan`s national pavilion in the "Expo Milano 2015" was laid in July, 2014. The preparatory and construction work lasted for 18 months. The organizational work over the Azerbaijan`s national pavilion was conducted by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Heydar Aliyev Center. According to the motto of this year`s exhibition, the 4-storey national pavilion, which covers 1800 square meters, glorifies Azerbaijan`s history and cultural heritage, rich environmental potential, richness of flora and fauna and rare biodiversity. 300-man working group, consisting of local and foreign experts was created for the preparation of the project.

The 3 biospheres embodied Azerbaijan, which is always able to keep and protect its environment and ancient culture in a harmony. The wavy wooden walls of the pavilion were a symbol of a wind, specific for Azerbaijan and a cultural and creative stream, which always circulates here. A pavilion "Azerbaijan. A treasury of biodiversity", which was created for the "Expo Milano 2015" reflected the unique natural and cultural treasury of this land, which plays a role of bridge between the North and the South, the East and the West.

The biosphere "Cross of the cultures" took the visitors to very important historic and cultural places of the country. The second biosphere – "Biodiversity" was dedicated to the country`s natural biodiversity and cultural heritage. The construction in the center of the biosphere embodies a tree of pomegranate, which is a symbol of richness of Azerbaijan. The biosphere is called "Innovation and tradition".

The national pavilion also reflected the existence of 9 climate zones, and that the international organizations show Azerbaijan as one of the 25 spaces of biodiversity in the world.

Anar Alakbarov said Azerbaijani national pavilion was one of the most successful projects for the country. He stressed the support of president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in implementation of the project.

Azerbaijan`s pavilion attracted view of more than 3 million 250 thousand people at Milan Expo 2015.

Project manager Riccardo Cigolotti highlighted Azerbaijan`s rich culture its nature. He said the most beautiful pavilion at the Exhibition belong to Azerbaijan.

The internal design of the pavilion reflected the work done in Azerbaijan towards protection of biodiversity and solution of ecological problems, provide and protection of restoration of national natural resources, implementation of local and international ecological projects.

According to the opinion of the "Expo Milano 2015" Organizing Committee, Azerbaijan is among those countries, who first implemented the demands, put in front of the participating state at the initial level of preparation and installation process, and presentation about the context and design of the pavilion. Foreign press and leading Italian media hailed Azerbaijan as a leader for finishing the construction and design work of the pavilion. Official delegations of various countries and the leadership of the exhibition noted that the design of the Azerbaijan`s pavilion was much differed from others, and was suitable to the chosen theme. Because of the success of Azerbaijan, Armenia refused to attend the "Expo Milano 2015".

The possibility of instant and direct contact with Baku is a signature novice of the Azerbaijani National Pavilion. A mirror-shaped human-size monitor ending with an undulating seat was assembled at the very entrance to the Pavilion, matched with an identical installation at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku. Constant communication between the two enables anyone standing in front of the monitor at the Pavilion to enjoy the view provided by the similar device in Baku. By the same token, residents and visitors of Baku got a unique opportunity to access the Azerbaijani Pavilion and its visitors at the Universal Exposition. By linking numerous visitors of Milan Expo 2015 with Baku, this project, styled Mirroring Baku, in a way, conveys the message of Azerbaijan's historic mission of the bridge between the East and the West.