Thinc Design and Renowned Chef Grant MacPherson Join USA Pavilion Team for Next World's Fair

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015 today announced the addition of Thinc Design and acclaimed Chef Grant MacPherson to the USA Pavilion team that is working to create a dynamic U.S. presence at Expo Milano 2015. Thinc, one of the country's leading exhibit design firms, will serve as USA Pavilion exhibition designer under the direction of founder and principal Tom Hennes, and Chef MacPherson will serve as USA Pavilion culinary director. Expo Milano is expected to attract 20 to 30 million visitors from May through October 2015 in Milan, Italy.

"We're looking forward to collaborating with the Thinc team on the USA Pavilion and together representing the best of the USA to the world," said Charlie Faas, CEO of the Friends organization. "Thinc has created remarkable visitor experiences at venues around the globe, and will play a key role in bringing to life 'American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet.'"

As exhibition designer, Thinc will highlight America's unique role in the future of food around the world through interactive exhibits covering a 26,000-square-foot space and topics such as food security and policy, international relations, science and technology, nutrition and health, and culinary culture. Thinc's previous clients include the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center, the Freedom Park in South Africa, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Discovery Center at the Discovery Park of America in Tennessee.

"Thinc is excited to support the USA Pavilion by creating a dynamic and immersive experience for visitors from around the world," Mr. Hennes said. "Together with the pavilion's public programming and online presence, the exhibits will highlight America's food systems and innovations, and engage a global conversation around critical issues like food security and sustainability."

Cooking Up American Food 2.0

"Chef MacPherson's distinguished career spans five continents and hundreds of restaurants, and we're thrilled that the USA Pavilion is among his latest endeavors," said Mitchell Davis, executive vice president of the James Beard Foundation and chief creative officer of the Friends organization. "A culinary innovator himself, he is the ideal chef to introduce people from around the world to America's far-reaching food traditions."

As culinary director, Chef MacPherson will tell America's food story through different types of meals prepared and served at the USA Pavilion. During his 30-year career in the food and beverage industry, Chef MacPherson has been at the helm of world-class hotels and restaurants including Bellagio Las Vegas, Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Macau, and Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Working with chefs such as Joël Robuchon and the late Jean-Louis Palladin, he has made an influential mark on the American food scene, and has cooked for heads of state and multiple celebrities such as Julia Roberts and Michael Bublé.  

"We're working to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone who visits the USA Pavilion," Chef MacPherson said. "It's an honor to represent the United States on an international stage through delicious food that showcases our diversity, ingenuity and entrepreneurship."

The Friends organization is a collaboration between the James Beard Foundation and the International Culinary Center, in association with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy. The U.S. is one of 140-plus countries participating in Expo Milano 2015: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

Additional information about the USA Pavilion is available at http://www.usapavilion2015.net, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

About Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015

Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a collaboration between the James Beard Foundation (JBF) and the International Culinary Center (ICC), in association with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, whose mission is to conceive, design, fundraise for, and produce the USA Pavilion and programs at Expo Milano 2015 under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State. Current partners include GE, Microsoft, Uvet, DuPont, illy, 3M, McKinsey & Company and FleishmanHillard.

The pavilion's management and program is directed by President Dorothy Hamilton (founder and CEO of ICC), CEO Charlie Faas, and Chief Creative Officer Mitchell Davis (EVP of JBF). Biber Architects has been selected to design the USA Pavilion, Thinc Design is serving as USA Pavilion exhibition designer, and Chef Grant MacPherson is serving as USA Pavilion culinary director. Under the overall direction of the U.S. Department of State and in consultation with a team of experts across the science, business, technology, agriculture, sustainability, design and other fields, the Friends organization will oversee every aspect of the project.

For more information, visit: http://www.usapavilion2015.net/ and http://en.expo2015.org/.

About Thinc

Thinc is at the forefront of design for public spaces that engage users and diverse communities with multifaceted storytelling and evolving narratives. Utilizing environment, artifacts, digital media, and public participation, the firm's work focuses on the developing intersection of society and exhibition making in North America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and South Africa. Thinc's most recent major opening is the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City, for which it served as lead exhibition designer.

SOURCE Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015