During Expo Prado, which took place from Friday, September 10, through Sunday, September 19, the Israeli Embassy and the Uruguayan-Israeli Chamber of Commerce (Camuris) presented the Israeli pavilion after a 24-year absence, featuring a façade designed by Celina Barros and Franco Ceraolo, two senior students in the Interior Design program at Universidad ORT Uruguay, who were selected by the program’s Academic Coordination and Dean Gastón Boero, Architect, to carry out the project.
According to Architect Boero, Camuris wanted a specific design for the façade, “based on technology and manufacturing, given the strong presence of companies linked to agriculture and all the technological innovations the country is promoting in various fields,” he said.
The students explained that their work involved everything related to the facade design, renderings, and a preliminary materials budget. “At our first meeting with Camuris, we understood that their goal was to convey a new image of Israel, moving away from tradition to prioritize modernity and technology. Based on those parameters, we began designing, but, generally speaking, they gave us a lot of freedom to do the work,” they commented.
As for the façade design, the students decided to break away from the standard look of the Expo Prado booths and opt for a 3D design. “We proposed placing suspended cubes on the front of the façade and blue arches with white lighting, mimicking the colors of the flag, at the entrance,” said Ceraolo. Both emphasized that beyond the visual impact of the three-dimensional design, they also aimed to create an impact on the public’s experience. For example, by installing a “green wall” that the designers describe as “Instagram-worthy.” “We tried to design an environment where passersby would feel like they were part of it and interact with the space in some way,” they said.
Meanwhile, the construction phase of the façade was overseen by a pair of architects who graduated from ORT: Ignacio Spiess and Sofía Taurozzi. They stated that they received a very detailed design from the architects and that “this allowed us to explore alternatives that reduced construction costs without compromising the underlying concept,” they said.
The project culminated in the Israeli pavilion receiving the award for best façade at Expo Prado 2021, a recognition of the hard work and dedication our students and graduates put into designing and bringing to life the concept of a modern, technologically advanced “new Israel.”