A showcase for a green city of the future
Floriade Expo 2022 Amsterdam - Almere closed its gates on Sunday after six months. In an ever-changing world Almere showed exceptional foresight by choosing an urgent theme for Floriade Expo 2022 ten years ago: Growing Green Cities. A World Horticultural Exhibition with a splendid theme.
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Want to relive the best moments and look back on a wonderful Floriade?
On October 9th, the last visitors enjoyed the beautiful park. The public exit reviews have shown a high appreciation for the park, giving Floriade a mighty 8 out of 10. Floriade welcomed 685,189 visitors.
>>> Some more impressions from the opening time you can find here <<<
Floriade Expo 2022 was characterised by its huge wealth of flowers and plants but was also all about other ways of appreciating ‘green’, such as the actual ecosystems of trees and plants. Floriade was especially unique with its Arboretum of 3,000 trees which will remain part of the urban district ‘Hortus’.
As founders, the Dutch Horticultural Council, Municipality of Almere, Province of Flevoland and the State joined forces for one common goal: to bring together structural innovations and solutions for sustainable and liveable green cities in this Expo, and they succeeded. “Floriade not only contributes to the economic value for Almere, Flevoland and the Netherlands, but especially to raising awareness of the importance of a healthy living and working environment. Thousands of inspirations, which visitors took away, make this Floriade a source of knowledge for the future. With Growing Green Cities, Floriade has shown perspective for a sustainable and liveable future!”, said Hans Bakker, CEO Floriade Expo 2022.
Closing Ceremony Floriade Expo 2022 with 22 Awards for participants and exhibitors
Sunday October 9th the last visitors enjoyed the World Horticultural Exhibition Floriade Expo 2022 with the theme Growing Green Cities. The last day ended with an closing and award ceremony for all the participants.
Floriade Expo 2022 was characterised by its huge wealth of flowers and plants but was also all about green innovations and other ways of appreciating ‘green’, such as the actual ecosystems of trees and plants. Floriade was especially unique with its Arboretum of 3,000 trees which will remain part of the urban district ‘Hortus’. The crowd favorites of this Expo were Almeerse Wolunie, Treeport Zundert, Wilde Weelde, Amsterdam-Almere Pavilion, Agroforestry and Groen Collectief. And the international official participants Salt Water Cities of UAE, the Pigeon Towers of Qatar and the german Biotopia.
However, the official awards were allocated by a professional jury.
Official Awards
The Award Ceremony was part of the Official Closing Ceremony. In line with the regulations of the AIPH (International Association of Horticultural Producers) and BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) prizes were awarded to those participants that have contributed the most to the success of the Expo and that have shown the best use of horticulture to communicate the theme of the Expo: Growing Green Cities. A total of 22 awards were handed out.
Gold Award Indoor – Dutch Innovation Experience – Natural Pavilion and the Exploded View House
The Natural Pavilion shows the future of housing construction with sustainability and circularity as the key elements. The pavilion consists of 95% bio-based materials, most of which originate from the Netherlands. The Exploded View beyond Building consists of 100 natural materials. The jury believes this participant fully embraced the theme and gave us a glimpse into technologies and ideas that could be part of a sustainable future. The natural world has many answers to the challenges we face and both the pavilion and the house translate that into an amazing visitor experience.
Gold Award Garden and Landscape Design – Lips Groen Hoveniers – FeelGood Garden
This garden is designed to stimulate you in a natural way and to put your senses to work. “When you walk in this garden you can feel its energy. It has brought strong colors and emotion to the Expo while at the same time being a garden that reaches the heart. This garden is based on research and experience, people feel better being in a place like this and the jury definitely felt this too.”
Gold Award Outdoor Gardens – Germany – BIOTOPIA
This was a very difficult decision for the jury because the standards were very high. However, Germany’s participation ticked all the boxes for the jury. “With a strong support team they were able to give visitors an immersive experience into understanding what a sustainable future can look like and the role we can all play. The rooftop gardens showed new ways of living that integrate people and nature. The team maintained the highest quality up until the end and they deserve the highest praise for what they achieved.”
Gold Award Indoor – Japan – Satoyama Farm Garden
Japan showed a traditional ecological agricultural garden and flower exhibitions in the Satoyama Farm. “Every two weeks, throughout the Expo, Japan created a whole new floral display in their pavilion. They brought in Japanese expert floral designers every time and the standard was exceptionally high. Each display was relevant for the season and the theme, while at the same time showing something uniquely Japanese. They should be very proud of this amazing achievement.”
Special Awards
Next to the aforementioned awards, special awards were given out.
The Theme Prize recognizes two participants that connected strongly with the Expo Theme Growing Green Cities. Dutch participants Circuloco and Stichting Weerwoud’s Agroforestry were honored with this award. The Theme Prize was won by international official participants Italy for her Future Roots (outdoor) and India for her Heralding Healthy Revolution through Horticulture (indoor).
According to the jury there were a number of official participants that really excelled themselves at this Expo. They have put passion and care into their participation, as well as significant investment in many cases. Mr. Tim Briercliffe, Chairman of the Jury and Secretary General at AIPH, presented five Special Awards:
- Most Educational Exhibition
- Cultural Activities Award
- Hospitality Award
- Garden Experience Award
- Sustainability Award
Most Educational Exhibition – United Arab Emirates – Salt Water Cities
“No-one could go through this garden and pavilion without learning a lot about the challenges facing the UAE and the amazing solutions available through the use of plants. The UAE team took care of every visitor and provided a unique experience in the Expo. It was really a wonderful experience.”
Cultural Activities Award – Suriname – The Greenest Place, since ever
“You could not experience the Suriname pavilion without feeling like you were there, not only with the plants but with the food and the people too! In their national celebrations they ‘took over the Expo’ and now we all feel we understand Suriname much better than before and feel their passion for this very green country.”
Hospitality Award – Qatar – Desert Nest
The Desert Nest exhibition is inspired by nature and life in the desert, offering a forward thinking vision for sustainable ways to live in harmony with the environment. “Everyone was made to feel welcome in Qatar. Not only could you experience the amazing pigeon towers – the tallest 3D printed tower – you could also taste coffee and dates and try on traditional dresses. It was like being in Qatar yourself and they provided a great way to welcome visitors to their own A1 World Horticultural Expo in Doha opening in just one year’s time.”
Garden Experience Award – China – A Growing Chinese Bamboo Garden
This garden combines traditional Chinese landscape architecture and the latest horticultural developments. “In this Floriade China has shown the wonder and versatility of bamboo as the underpinning of their garden. They went even further by filling it with beautiful and well-maintained flowering plants. It provided a true garden experience and the perfect place to sit down, relax and be immersed in the garden.”
Sustainability Award – Belgium – Regenerative Garden
The Belgian garden is full of edible flowers and plants. The Belgium pavilion is small, but big in design, with geometric, playful and contemporary design and extremely sustainable. All the materials are fully reusable or biodegradable. “Without human intervention, the pavilion could decompose naturally. For example cross-laminated timber was used that is fully recyclable, the walls and tiles of the courtyard were made of compressed, non-baked stones from earth combined with bioplastic based on algae starch.”
The competitions are of great importance to the AIPH, because they stimulate participants to focus on high horticultural standards, to stimulate new thinking and ideas for the future and to create a beautiful visitor experience.
Between the various award ceremonies the Almere Music Ensemble Black Pencil provided a musical interlude with images of the opening show by Vis a Vis, Ulrike Quade Company presented a scene from the Floriade Main Show and the last interlude was by dancers of Theaterschool Almere together with an Alluminous Light Art Festival projection of Hive by Daphne Karstens.
