Nemesi designed the exhibition layout of Palazzo Italia to be a gradual journey to discover and understand the shapes and content of this special architectural landscape.
The route starts from the internal piazza, a great hall in which visitors are welcomed and the curved, inclined elevations give the volumes a sense of fluidity and dynamism, forming a space of genuine beauty. The great flight of steps that rises up from the square crosses this area longitudinally to visually connect all the floors. The triple-height space from the second to the fourth storey is like a giant "hanging" shell that, visible from the piazza, houses the Exhibition zone.
Palazzo Italia has spaces to host events on the ground floor and, on the upper floors, exhibition areas, meeting and conference rooms, and elegant open and eating areas, including a top class restaurant on the fourth floor and a panoramic terrace.
The building will also have space for various institutions, including the Italian Government, and areas to showcase Made in Italy excellence. In the post-Expo period, it will become a hub for technological innovation. 

In designing Palazzo Italia, importance was placed on sustainability and on making it practically a zero energy building through the use, among other aspects, of photovoltaic glass for the roof and photocatalytic concrete in the outer envelope. The full 9,000m² of the external façade of Palazzo Italia will be clad in 900 i.active BIODYNAMIC concrete panels with Italcementi's patented TX Active technology. When this material comes into contact with light, it can "capture" pollution in the air, transforming it into inert salts and reducing smog levels. The mortar used is 80% recycled aggregates, including scrap material from marble quarries in Carrara that helps add more lustre than in traditional white cement. This new material is also very "dynamic", enabling the creation of fluid designs like the complex shapes used for the panels that are part of the construction of Palazzo Italia.
Each panel for the external envelope is unique and will be created using Styl-Comp technology.
The roof designed by Nemesi for Palazzo Italia will be an innovative "sail" created by Stahlbau Pichler. It will be an interpretation of a forest canopy, with photovoltaic glass and flat and curved geometric shapes (often squares). Together with the building's envelope of "branches", it will be a manifest expression of innovation in design and technology. The roof reaches its architectural height above the inner piazza, where a massive glazed conical skylight "hangs" over the square and the central steps, radiating natural light. 

The Italy Pavilion includes a series of temporary buildings that will look out onto the Cardo, a paved road spanning 35m and running for 325m from Piazza d’Acqua in the north to the square on Via d’Acqua in the south. These are being built using "dry" technology to facility their removal and relocation when the Expo ends.
Nemesi used the idea of an Italian village to develop the buildings along the Cardo, creating volumes juxtaposed with small squares, terraces and covered walkways. Different geometric shapes, at times overhanging, are assembled to almost form a giant mosaic in which each piece has its own design and autonomy. The ground and first floors are often little squares produced by the alternation of architectonic volumes.
The buildings along the Cardo will represent the different parts of Italy, especially the regions, providing them with meeting and exhibition areas. The area facing Palazzo Italia, along the northern part of the Cardo, will be used for the institutions, exhibitions and meetings that fall under the European Union Pavilion, providing a symbol of the close ties between Europe and Italy.
The buildings along the Cardo include the European Union Pavilion, exhibition areas, spaces for events and meetings, eating areas and terraces. 

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Via di Pietralata, 163
I- 00118 Roma RM, Italy
+39 06 6889 2747
www.nemesistudio.it/‎