Iaphet Elli 
LAKE COMO ESSENCE
28 August – 3 September 2015
Expo Milano 2015 – Italy PavilionComo and its surrounding area took center stage at Expo 2015 for an entire week at the heart of the Universal Exhibition.
From August 28 to September 3,
visitors can explore the LAKE COMO ESSENCE space, a showcase that promotes the region
through its unique qualities and excellence.
As is well-known, SistemaComo2015, a hub for initiatives and projects launched by the region and supported by
local Public Authorities—primarily the Chamber of Commerce, Province, and Municipality of Como—and the Lombardy Region,
initiated a territorial marketing campaign back in 2011. The mission was structured around the extraordinary opportunity presented by the Universal Exhibition in Milan.
During the six-month continuous presence of SistemaComo2015 at the Expo as an institutional partner
(through Sviluppo Como spa), numerous significant activities were conducted and opportunities seized,
ranging from internationalization meetings hosted at the Como Business Center’s representation space to extraordinary visibility opportunities at Vivaio Scuole, highlighting the entire Como educational system, described by the Italy Pavilion as a model of integrated territorial innovation. LAKE COMO ESSENCE now embodies the culmination of this extensive and complex journey undertaken by organizations, associations, businesses, schools, youth, cultural operators, and serves as a recognition of a method that can continue beyond 2015.
This remarkable showcase—spanning approximately 220 square meters, directly facing the Northwest Cardo, just steps from Palazzo Italia and the Tree of Life—will present the essence of the Como region to the ever-growing visitors of Expo 2015
through an introductory video mapping that emotionally illustrates the complexity of the entire
Como system in its various territorial, cultural, and economic components;
via a series of environments dedicated to themes of production, cultural and landscape heritage, research, and innovation, culminating in a space that offers a panoramic view of the lake through a corridor replicating the interior of
a villa in the Larian style.
The exhibition is made possible thanks to the invaluable contributions of numerous regional stakeholders (businesses, associations,
professionals, in addition to the already mentioned entities) who provided content and materials to best convey the essence of Como, blending tradition and innovation.
The LAKE COMO ESSENCE exhibition will be inaugurated on Friday, August 28, at 5:00 PM, in the presence
of the General Commissioner of the Italy Pavilion Diana Bracco, the Prefect of Como Bruno Corda, the
President of the Chamber of Commerce Ambrogio Taborelli, the Mayor of Como Mario Lucini, and the
coordinator of SistemaComo2015 Attilio Briccola.
www.sistemacomo2015.it
info@sistemacomo2015.it
In the area in front of the exhibition (Welcome Area), small animations will be organized to attract visitors and welcome them to the Como space. The animations will be inspired each day by specific themes, from textile production to artistic craftsmanship, from art to performance,
from tourism to boating, from floriculture to design and wood furnishing. These activities will feature, on different days, artists from eXcomo ballet, musicians from the Lario Sax Quartet (with a nod to the YARN exhibition), lace makers from the Committee for the Promotion of Cantù Lace, representatives of Age Group and Rattiflora,
participants in the EcoTourism project (#iofacciolamiaparte), members of Asprolegno and M.A.S.CHE.R.A. from Schignano.
Particularly noteworthy is the day of Saturday, August 29, dedicated to Culture and Performance.
The morning will host an important meeting with cultural associations and operators from the Como region in anticipation of drafting the final dossier for Como’s bid to be the Capital of Culture 2016-2017.
The afternoon will feature the Teatro Sociale di Como first at the live stage of Palazzo Italia from
4:00 PM with Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot – Opera Kids and Opera Arias, then—from 7:00 PM—at the
Welcome Area with an operatic flash mob.
Additionally, Como will be present during the same week at the Vivaio Scuole of Palazzo Italia with 5 of the 17 dedicated moments, particularly on August 29 and 31, featuring projects that will alternate between the Proteus Association, ComoNExT, the Lombard Speleological Federation Association, and the European Space Agency ESRIN.
