Italian Pavilion at Tehran International Book Fair 2017
Diba Group was chosen to design Italian Pavilion at Tehran International Book Fair 2017 for Italian Trade Agency (I.C.E) Trade Promotion Section of the Italian Embassy. The Pavilion, with area of 294 square meters, was built by modular panels, made of Styrofoam covered by plywood, which was dismantled and can be rebuilt again.
The Italian Book Pavilion at Tehran International Exhibition was designed to inspire and educate the visitors deliberately about the Italian art, architecture and literature. Clearly, Renaissance was a turning point in the history of Italian art, architecture and literature, and also scientific perspective was one of the discoveries of this era. Therefore, using perspective was one of the most significant characteristics of art and architecture of that time. This was the main inspiration behind the design of this pavilion, in a way that by creating spaces with visual effects of perspective and also few indications to paintings of that era, the visitors would have a unique experience. The concept was to create a serendipitous experience space for visitors as if they are strolling in the streets of Italian towns. The corridors and spaces were named after different streets or alleys related to books or literature in Italian language such as "Viale della Libreria", "Vicolo della Poesia", and more.
With a 45-degree rotation from the orthogonal geometry of the main hall, the pavilion created a dynamic visual and physical connection from all the corridors of the hall to each other. This would create the possibility of experiencing the pavilion in many different ways by entering or exiting from different openings while each path will offer its identical experience and perspective.
"Viale della Libreria", meaning "The Bookstore Avenue" was the main hall with the long table in the center fully covered by the books. This space was diagonally cutting through the pavilion and continuously connecting two main corridors of the main exhibition hall to each other. The width and openness of this space would welcome people from different locations and make their flow in the space smooth and easy. The large table reminded us of the painting "Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the masterpieces of the Renaissance period.
Moreover, there was an auditorium called "Sala Rinascimento" meaning "The Hall of Renaissance". This space resembled a church because of its symmetrical pitched elevation and the character of symmetry which continued on the other side of the space. Moreover, there was the silhouette of "Last Supper", printed on a plexiglass, in the middle of this wall which lead to a visual connection between "Viale della Libreria" and the auditorium. Furthermore, the one-point perspective of this drawing emphasized on the real space behind it. From the outside, the small triangles would look like the continuity of the "Sala"; but on the inside it was providing small steps for visitors to sit, rest and spend some time in the pavilion.
The portrait and a short biography of the Italian writers who would speak at the pavilion during the exhibition were printed on the walls of the narrower entrance called "Via Degli Scrittori" (The Writers Street). The walls on the sides of this street are tilted on top. This will exaggerate the perspective and would create the illusion of walking in a street that is much longer than what it really is.
The other more or less closed triangle spaces were the reception next to personnel's space and the B2B area. On the outer wall of the B2B area, the painting "School of Athens", a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, representing knowledge and philosophy, was printed on a fabric mesh. This transparent printed mesh made a blurry visual connection between outside and the B2B area.
