Italy Pavilion
A World Expo pavilion exploring Italy’s regional craft economies
Designed as a cultural journey through Italy’s regional creative economies, the pavilion explores how generations of specialized knowledge continue to shape local identity, industry, and livelihoods.

This page focuses on Space 2 of the pavilion, which was selected for further refinement and rendering.
Team
Timeline
Role
Tools
Individual
8 weeks, Spring 2026
Exhibition Experience Designer
TouchDesigner, Blender, Arduino, Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
VISION & THEME
CONCEPT
SPACE OVERVIEW
01. MURANO, VENICE
A hands-on glass workshop where visitors create their own Murano-inspired piece.
EXPERIENCE WALKTHROUGH
1. Visitors build their own pattern
Acrylic pieces in different colors are laid out in front of visitors, while a table projection invites them to compose their own Murano-inspired design.
02. Pattern gets matched with one of four Murano glass techniques
The system analyzes the pattern and matches it to one of four Murano glass techniques: Sommerso, Filigrana, Millefiori, or Avventurina, based on its visual characteristics.
03. See their patterns come to life
Using detected airflow, visitors blow to melt and expand their pattern onto a projected glass sphere, revealing how the technique works.
04. Leave a trace in the room
The finished form is then added to one of the spheres in the center, allowing each visitor to leave a trace within the space.
PROTOTYPE
To test the interaction as a complete system, I built a working prototype connecting a custom trained image classification model, web interface, camera input, TouchDesigner, and a breath sensor. I trained the model to recognize four glassmaking patterns. The web interface reads the camera input and sends the recognized pattern into TouchDesigner, where it is mapped onto a virtual glass form. Visitors can then blow into the sensor and watch the glass take shape.
PROTOTYPE PROCESS: LOTS OF LOTS OF TESTING
02. CREMONA, LOMBARDY
An interactive audio experience that traces the development of violin making.
Tonewood pieces fill the space, each triggering a violin tone and a short story about the craft’s history. As more visitors interact, the individual sounds build into a larger musical composition.
03. PIETRASANTA, TUSCANY
A robotic carving performance showcasing their sculpture-making innovation
Visitors begin at a quarry pile, where they select a foam cube and choose a sculptural motif from a curated collection. A robot then carves the rough form in 15 minutes before visitors finish the details by hand at a carving station and take the piece home.
04. GRAGNANO, CAMPANIA
A live demonstration showing pasta being made.
A live kitchen lets visitors watch a professional Italian chef make pasta through a display window, connecting the craft of production to the restaurant experience upstairs.
05. PRATO, TUSCANY
A room-scale projection experience introduces visitors the core of Prato’s wool recycling process.
Visitors sort wool at interactive fountains, revealing how organized materials can reduce dye waste. As they participate, the river projection and wall data visualizations respond to show their collective impact.
RESEARCH TO EXPERIENCE STRATEGY
I began by researching Italy through the lens of culture, infrastructure, regional industries, and future innovation. This helped me move beyond broad national symbols and identify a stronger narrative. Then translate that research into exhibition content, visitor takeaways, and spatial experience goals.
INTERACTION CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
With the larger pavilion narrative established, I focused on Space 2 as the main area for refinement. I explored multiple interaction concepts for the location-based stores, using sketches, references, and quick prototypes to test how each craft story could become a hands-on visitor experience.
MAPPING THE VISITOR JOURNEY
I sketched the experience step by step to understand how visitors enter the store, follow prompts, interact with the glass objects, and move through the space.