PHOTOS: Terrain:Architects and Landscape Architects

Austria zigged where others zagged in interpreting the Expo 2015 theme of "Feeding the Planet, Energy of Life." Accordingly, the European nation constructed its pavilion to convey the concept that air itself was as important a nutrient as protein or carbohydrates with the simple yet sophisticated motto "Air is food." Creating a zone of 12 ecotypes, Austria crammed the equivalent of a 7.4-acre forest in the pavilion space, including 190 different species and 1, 200 perennials, providing a lung-pleasing amount of oxygen every hour to sufficiently sustain nearly 2,000 people. Thus the entire pavilion doubled as an "air generating station," and was the only building on the entire Expo site to go without conventional air conditioning. Moreover, the pavilion was energy neutral, with the electrical energy needed to power the infrastructure supplied by a photovoltaic system on the roof and a solar-powered sculpture that fed excess energy back into the Italian power grid.

photos: Martin Miseré

Constructed mostly of rugged and worn shipping containers that suggest dumpsters more than diamonds, Monaco's pavilion put forth an austere face that belied the country's affluent bearing. Encompassing 10 thematic stations, the pavilion showcases populist efforts such as the first oyster hatchery in the Mediterranean, employing an enchanting interactive game teaching guests how to balance delicate environmental conditions to produce the salty sustenance. One station promotes timber from sustainably managed forests, while another focuses on the surge of jellyfish: in a shadowy enclosure, reminiscent of a submarine, a monitor glimmers with illustrations of the marine creatures done in the sensuous style of 19th century anatomical drawings, while closeby, a tank seethes with living jellyfish. At these stations and others, visitors obtain succinct information about the projects through textual introductions, videos, and infographics that have the rough-and-ready look of a talented architect's napkin doodles.