Milan Expo 2015: Mixed Reviews on Opening Day

The hotly anticipated Expo Milano 2015, the theme of which is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," opens today in the Italian city and the reviews are ... mixed. In a post on Instagram this morning, architectural photographer Iwan Baan decried the "sorry state" of contemporary expo programming, which has certainly come a long way from its halcyon days. In another, Baan questioned the presence of McDonald's at the expo, considering the theme. The lensman is far from the first to express a disdain for the fair. In March, Pritzker Prize winner Jacques Herzog, whose firm was once tapped to masterplan the international expo told Uncube magazine in an interview that the show promised to be a "bore and a waste of money and resources!"

In spite of all of this, there are a few standout pavilions aiming to tackle the theme and bring quality architecture to the fairgrounds. Curbed's news editor Patrick Sisson spoke yesterday with New York-based architect James Biber about his USA pavilion scheme and the pavilions of the U.K., France, Japan, and China look promising, too.

· At Milan Expo, James Biber's USA Pavilion Features Vertical Farm and "Aspirations of America" [Curbed]
· Jacques Herzog Has Some Choice Words for the Milan Expo [Curbed]
· Previous Milan Expo 2015 coverage [Curbed]