An experiential journey at the Brera Botanical Garden dedicated to skills and well-being and based on the happiness of new discoveries and the unusual, reusing an element of tradition in a completely new and unexpected way.
On the occasion of FuoriSalone 2024Eni presented the initiative “sunRICE – the recipe for happiness”, born from the collaboration with Niko Romito and created on a project by CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota (1953-2024) who leaves us as a legacy an installation of great vision.
SunRICE is a experiential path dedicated to the power of innovative ideas and skills, and how these make circular economy and sustainability solutions and applications possible.
The installation fits into the framework of the Mostra Interni Cross Vision, combining the elements of the natural and artificial world, and will be open to the public from 15 to 25 April.
This is a project relating to the key themes underlying transformative economies, well-being and health, skills and training which involves a path focused on riceas a cereal present in gastronomic traditions around the world.
The installation will represent a example of a complete circular economy cycle thanks to the reuse of rice waste. Thus, inside the Botanical Garden, starting from the rice plant, passing through the ingredient and its innovative use in the kitchen, we come to see its waste become raw material for architecture, supporting the importance of training and skills development.
At the end of the exhibition, the installation will undergo its final transformation, recovering the material used in mulch to be reintroduced into the land for new crops.
Central the contribution from the startup RiceHouse – awarded by Joule, Eni’s school for business – which created a technological solution for the processing of rice waste which is transformed into building material in the installation. This reflects the importance that theinnovative and sustainable entrepreneurship to support the decarbonisation process and the topic of the circular economy, an essential lever in the energy transition path.
For sunRICE, Niko Romito interprets the idea of useful creativity by creating a savory biscuit for visitors. The product, designed specifically for the project, communicates with the environment that hosts the route, from which Romito draws some herbaceous raw materials in addition to rice, and becomes a tangible and edible part of the experience, helping to promote and enhance the key values of the initiative.
Since 2018, Eni has been present at the Fuorisalone in Milan organized by INTERNI magazine. Over the years, participation has allowed Eni to talk more closely strategic themes and projects for society, as well as the founding values that guide one’s actions on a daily basis.