The World Expo in Dubai is scheduled from October 2021 to March 2022. The event was previously rescheduled from October 2020 to April 2021 because of the threatening pandemic impacts. But despite the rescheduling, the term Expo 2020 was retained for branding and marketing purposes. Dubai was announced as the host city for Expo at the BIE general session in the country Paris a few years ago.
The major venue for this expo is a 1083-acre region between the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, along Dubai’s southern border with Abu Dhabi. This expert plan by HOK, an American organisation, is located on Al Wasl, a primary plaza surrounded by three large thematic sections. Each one focuses on one of the three sub-themes of Expo 2020: Mobility, Sustainability, and Opportunity. So, read on to know the top 10 amazing pavilions in World Expo 2020 Dubai.
1. THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PAVILION
The Dubai Expo’s Santiago Pavilion provides the visitors from all over the world an opportunity to explore the host country from its beginnings to its flourishing present and its idealistic future. The UAE Pavilion’s design at Expo 2020 in Dubai has been announced by Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava. The 15,000-square-meter pavilion is built as a “symbolic depiction of the flow of movement,” with meticulously controlled lines and spaces that fit in with the flora, covered arcades, and cantilevered wings that surround it.
2. BANGKOTA: THE PHILIPPINES LARGEST PAVILION
The pavilion, which is named after the old Tagalog term for ‘coral reef,’ is characterised as an “epic symphony of art, nature, and architecture” that depicts the story of Filipinos’ 4,000-year journey from prehistoric times to the present day. The pavilion was designed by visionary architect Royal Pineda of Royal+Budji, and it was inspired by the natural and organic shape of the coral reef, drawing visitors into free-flowing, open spaces with visual installations, musical scores, and updated scientific information about Philippine history.
3. THE UK MONUMENTAL MOBILITY PAVILION
This pavilion bridges the lines between the digital and physical worlds, inviting visitors to meet historical mobility icons whose ideas paved the path for today’s technologies. The pavilion includes the world’s largest passenger lift, which can transport up to 160 people at once, as well as a 330-meter semi-underground-semi-open-air track where visitors can view cutting-edge mobility gadgets in action.
4. UK PAVILION
The United Kingdom’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai is a wooden sculptural building that celebrates cultural diversity and collaboration, emphasizing Britain’s role as a crossroads of cultures and ideas. The Poem Pavilion, designed by artist and designer Es Devlin, transforms visitor input into collaborative poems using powerful machine learning algorithms. The latter is displayed in glowing displays on the pavilion’s façade, thereby transforming it into an exhibit.
5. THE UK GRIMSHAW’S SUSTAINABILITY PAVILION
The Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, built by Grimshaw Architects, embodies the spirit of addressing the impact of human activities on the environment and serves as a catalyst for collective action. With one of the Expo’s three main themes being sustainability, the Terra pavilion will serve as a platform for emphasizing the issue’s urgency, sharing knowledge, and developing ideas while also giving visitors an interactive experience.
6. THE BELGIAN PAVILION
The Belgian pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo, named “The Green Arch,” emphasizes the establishment of connected green cities through technological, industrial, and scientific expertise. Belgian architects that are ASSAR ARCHITECTS and Vincent Callebaut Architectures developed the pavilion, which will be represented by BelExpo, an autonomous department of the Belgian Ministry of Economy.
The expo will bring together Belgian intellectuals and entrepreneurs to present their views for the year 2050, based on today’s clean, smart, and secure mobility solutions. Its presence at Expo is an attempt to persuade international tourists to come to Belgium and invest in the country through collaborations with Belgian institutions and initiatives.
7. JAPAN PAVILION
The Pavilion of Japan in Dubai unfolds a geometrical 3-dimensional pattern that is inspired by the classical Arabic and Japanese designs, relating to the theme of connection. The project, designed by Yuko Nagayama and Associates, explores the cultural connections between the Middle East and Japan through various architectural approaches.
This three-dimensional façade incorporates Asanoha and Arabesque designs, as well as a throwback to Origami, a classic Japanese art piece. The pavilion’s enclosing structure is also a throwback to Japan’s technique of Origata gift packaging.
8. THE CZECH REPUBLIC PAVILION
The Czech pavilion, created by R/FRM and Formosa AA is located in the sustainability zone of Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates. This pavilion is an invitation to explore. It exposes and integrates the cultivated system plant, raising problems about desert cultivation. The pavilion’s major formal and visual components are visible technologies.
The Czech pavilion grabs visitors’ attention with its natural cloud formation that grows out of the greenery at the point of the grown desert, which is made up of four volumes supported by a steel frame system. That material was selected for its endurance to climatic effects and due to its sustainability properties. Also, it was covered with Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics (GFRP).
9. ITALY PAVILION
Italy’s national pavilion, designed by CRA-Carlo, Italo Rota, F&M Ingegneria, and matteo gatto associates, was recently unveiled. The project is a symbol for the journey from Italy to the Expo 2020 country Dubai, and it was created in unity with the Italian and UAE Foreign Affairs Minister.
To integrate with the circular economy, the project uses particular construction materials such as coffee grounds and orange peels to coat the skywalk, as well as recycled plastic and mycelium retrieved from the ocean. Furthermore, the exhibition includes local Dubai elements such as genuine sand. Inside the project, natural climate control measures are also employed.
10. THE SWISS PAVILION
The Swiss Pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo, titled “Reflections,” highlights Switzerland’s unique duality of beautiful scenery and technology as part of the expo’s Opportunity area. Reflections was designed by OOS Architekten, with scenography by Bellprat Partner and landscape design by Lorenz Eugster. The pavilion’s front made a dramatic architectural statement and engaged visitors in a study of Switzerland’s beautiful scenery and state-of-the-art technology.