Hive mind

Commissioned by UK Trade & Investment and designed by artist Wolfgang Buttress, the UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015 takes visitors into the world of the honeybee, starting with a journey through fields of wild flowers that leads to The Hive, an imposing aluminium lattice interpretation of a honeycomb that hums and glows with a life of its own.

The Hive is connected to a real beehive at Nottingham Trent University back in the UK and the sounds and lights within it represent real-time data from the bees as they come and go. The work of the university’s Dr Martin Bencsik, who seeks to understand the relationship of one hive to another, particularly with regard to the spread of diseases, is crucial to the pavilion.

The Big Picture: Read our article on Whole Foods Market’s Share The Buzz campaign for more on how brands are raising awareness of the threats faced by the world’s pollinators.