Israel pavilion's vertical garden reflects identity

(ANSA) - Milan, June 30 - The Israel pavilion at Expo has a living garden growing sideways on a wall 70 metres long and 12 metres high, a green example of "vertical planting," an Israeli innovation that has allowed the country to explore cultivation despite its arid, water-starved condition.
    "This field is one of the reasons we're here," said pavilion commissioner Elazar Cohen. "It's a symbol of how Israel confronts challenges," he said.
    The garden uses an innovative drip irrigation system, which allows the grass or crop (such as corn or grain) to grow where it would never normally be able to.
    "This field is a symbol of Israel's capacity for innovation," Cohen said. "It represents well our ability to find solutions, to always say yes to any problem".
    Just as the vertical garden is a symbol, so is the location of the Israel pavilion itself, next to both Palazzo Italia and the pavilion of the Holy See, and beside the French pavilion.