Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre Photography

THE U.K. PAVILION AT THE WORLD EXPO 2020: EVERY VISITOR IS INVITED TO ADD A WORD AS THEY ENTER THIS GIANT WOODEN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - THEY EMERGE THROUGH A TWENTY METRE DIAMETER COLLECTIVE POEM IN WHICH THEIR WORD IS INCLUDED . POWERED BY A MACHINE LEARNING MODEL CALLED GPT-2, A LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL DEFINED BY 1.5 BILLION PARAMETERS , TRAINED ON 200,000 LINES OF POETRY CURATED BY A DIVERSE TEAM OF POETRY CURATORS, THE BUILDING WRITES A NEW POEM EVERY SIXTY SECONDS . THE CONE IS CONSTRUCTED FROM CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER , A SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE TO STEEL AND CONCRETE, WITH A THERMAL LABYRINTH AS PART OF ITS COOLING STRATEGY. DESIGN: ES DEVLIN PRODUCTION: AVANTGARDE EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: VERETEC STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: ATELIER ONE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER: ATELIER TEN LEAD ASSOCIATE DESIGNER: RUBY WAI YUE LAW

Mission Possible – The Opportunity Pavilion, encapsulates the concept of ‘Opportunity’: the idea that any action we take can create an impact; that anything is possible with a small step. The pavilion is a public space that allows every visitor from every corner of the planet and every walk of life to connect across age, language and culture, working together to achieve meaningful, positive change for our planet and its people. The pavilion was conceived as a large plaza, providing continuity to the Opportunity District in which it is situated. The design builds on the rich urban history of the plaza throughout millennia, from Roman times to the modern day – the concept of a plaza is universal and lends itself to multiple cultures, whether it is a piazza, saha, common or the town square. This universal urban language is important, because the pavilion aims to be a platform for social and cross-cultural engagement. Floating 32 metres above the ground, the pavilion’s canopy represents clouds and the dreams that we all aspire to achieve. The clouds are ethereal, composed of six textile layers of fabric on metal structures, protecting the plaza from direct sun exposure. The colourful elements overlap, creating layers, playing with transparency, light, shadows and colour. The clouds are in constant transformation thanks to the ways in which people view them in space and the changes in light and colour at various times of the day. A terracotta ‘carpet’ covers the ground and the pavilion’s facades – the first time this type of ceramic material has been used in the UAE in this way. This creates a backdrop that neutralises the impact of the buildings, and places emphasis on the pavilion’s public spaces and how humans interact within it. It is in this carpet – the Earth – where the human activity takes place. The space is designed to be appropriated by the visitors, to share experiences and generate a community of knowledge and mutual respect. To bridge the terrain’s slope, the pavilion’s plaza is organised on two levels, creating a basin where visitors are metaphorically spaced in-between the clouds above and the Earth below and providing a unique, playful place for social interaction and cultural understanding. Mission Possible – The Opportunity Pavilion is where Expo 2020 brings to life the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations is ideally located in Mission Possible – The Opportunity Pavilion, the Thematic Pavilion that examines how to unlock the potential of individuals and communities in creating positive change for people and planet.

Majlis for Expo 2020 Dubai by AGi architects are a set of urban living rooms conceived as human scale places. Given the immensity of the Expo site, in its relationship with users they aim to show hospitality as a symbol of the UAE character. More than 80 colored playful structures have formed a public network of socialization spaces throughout the exhibition area, ensuring the cohesion of the public space as a place for visitors to Expo 2020. Based on this same concept design, a pavilion prototype called Sameem has also been developed. In it, visitors can discover the essence of the three different cultures present in the Emirates for millennia in their settlements on the coast, the mountains and the desert. Majlis as an example of circular economy Majlis represent Arab hospitality towards the rest of the world, but also their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and economic efficiency. They have been conceived as useful elements, easily transformable and transportable. They are designed so that, once Expo 2020 is over, Majlis serve as ambassadors of national values in other places, being an example of the circular economy concepts that have been the conceptual axes of the Expo 2020 proposal “Connecting Minds. Creating the Future”, and its sub-themes “Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability”. Majlis can assume this task because they are: - removable: they have been conceived as dismountable system to be easily packed and transported. - Light: Majlis structures are made of aluminum - Self-supporting: the structures have their own foundations and rest on the ground, so no earthworks or excavations will be needed. They are ready for easy assembly and reuse. - Adaptable to different uses: many of the Majlis designed for Expo 2020 Dubai can be easily reused to accommodate new functions, such as rest areas, learning areas, medical support facilities, etc. - Climatic spaces: Majlis structures will be easily adaptable to the climatic conditions of their new destinations, using local knowledge of vernacular architecture adapted to their specific environments, in an appropriate, simple and economical way.

Majlis for Expo 2020 Dubai by AGi architects are a set of urban living rooms conceived as human scale places. Given the immensity of the Expo site, in its relationship with users they aim to show hospitality as a symbol of the UAE character. More than 80 colored playful structures have formed a public network of socialization spaces throughout the exhibition area, ensuring the cohesion of the public space as a place for visitors to Expo 2020. Based on this same concept design, a pavilion prototype called Sameem has also been developed. In it, visitors can discover the essence of the three different cultures present in the Emirates for millennia in their settlements on the coast, the mountains and the desert. Majlis as an example of circular economy Majlis represent Arab hospitality towards the rest of the world, but also their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and economic efficiency. They have been conceived as useful elements, easily transformable and transportable. They are designed so that, once Expo 2020 is over, Majlis serve as ambassadors of national values in other places, being an example of the circular economy concepts that have been the conceptual axes of the Expo 2020 proposal “Connecting Minds. Creating the Future”, and its sub-themes “Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability”. Majlis can assume this task because they are: - removable: they have been conceived as dismountable system to be easily packed and transported. Light: Majlis structures are made of aluminum Self-supporting: the structures have their own foundations and rest on the ground, so no earthworks or excavations will be needed. They are ready for easy assembly and reuse. Adaptable to different uses: many of the Majlis designed for Expo 2020 Dubai can be easily reused to accommodate new functions, such as rest areas, learning areas, medical support facilities, etc. Climatic spaces: Majlis structures will be easily adaptable to the climatic conditions of their new destinations, using local knowledge of vernacular architecture adapted to their specific environments, in an appropriate, simple and economical way.

Drawing inspiration from complex natural processes like photosynthesis, the dynamic form of the Pavilion is in service to its function, capturing energy from sunlight and fresh water from humid air. The relationship of building to site, and to its physical and cultural contexts is critical, as the facility’s strength lies in its capacity to demonstrate a new way of living sustainably in a challenging desert environment. The design is driven by maximizing efficiency which it does by seeking shade in the one place available: below the ground. The Pavilion uses the insulating properties of the earth to shield it from the harsh ambient temperatures which can soar to 50 degrees in the warmer months. Most of the accommodation is below grade and cased with an earth roof system, creating a substantial barrier to help reduce its cooling loads and conserve energy. The above ground surfaces are clad with a gabion rainscreen wall ― sourced with local stone from the Hajar Mountains – which provides enough thermal mass to absorb the heat while the stone’s natural color reflects the sun.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Italian Pavilion at Expo Astana 2017 has been conceived as a space giving the visitor an involving experience combining the values and notions of History, Ingenuity, Creativity and Natural Resources, as part of a long standing tradition of Italian primacy. The pavilion is also the physical container of an imaginary journey evoking and combining settings and major suggestions of the Italian "landscape": nature and society. Guests will be led to a perception experience in an alternating sequence of "virtual images" and "real objects". These physical and imaginary suggestions symbolically narrate the "Italian genius" applied to the themes of energy, preservation of natural resources and creative engineering. The Italian landscape, with large plains, high mountains, surrounded by the sea, offers a vast patrimony of energy sources: from wind power to hydro energy, from solar energy to fossil resources. All resources have always been exploited with ingenuity and respect for the environment, according to the cultural tradition of the country and its history. The pavilion is structured along a clear and at the same time complex exhibition path, with spatial references to the renaissance and baroque character of the Italian squares. Along the path, the visitor experiences a dynamic show of ever-changing messages, views and narrations through complex system of multimedia projection: a sort of “enhanced reality” in which objective and subliminal messages alternate with references to past and future, landscape, environment and engineering. The exhibition is organized on different levels. The winding visiting path begins with a slightly sloping ramp leading to an intermediate level from which it continues on a second ramp descending and, passing under the mezzanine floor. This articulated path opens to three main “squares”. Each square narrates a different aspect of the Italian history that is filled with creativity and research in the energy sector: from Volta to Pacinotti, from Fermi to Leonardo, from the researches in the hydroelectric energy field to the wealth of our natural resources. At the end of their visit, the guests reach “Piazza Leonardo”, dedicated to Italian creativity, in which encounters a crowd of multimedia totems. These interact directly with the visitors in order to transmit the sense of ingenuity in Italian culture. This oval square is an evoking dynamic space due to the multitude of video projections on the perimeter walls and ceiling. In “Piazza Leonardo” there is a small bar: the excellent expression of our urban culture.

The main element of the exhibition is a monumental installation occupying the right side of the pavilion. The installation in its construction resembles a stylized cross – section of Earth, with visible natural deposits at the bottom (the coal mine) and a forest at the top of it. While following a sightseeing path a visitor will be encountered with modern, ecologically neutral technologies, based on natural resources – modern image of coal the most precious natural resource – forest. The plan of the exhibition shows the path for visitors. The two-level exhibition consists of 5 parts: ENTRANCE, TECHNOLOGIES, FOREST, REGIONS, REST AREA. The path starts at the first entrance of the pavilion, next goes through TECHNOLOGIES, turns and goes up to the FOREST level. From the FOREST, there are stairs to the next part of the exhibition – REGIONS. Then, a sightseeing path leads to the playground (REST) area dedicated especially for families with children. TECHNOLOGIES area shows the good practices in clean coal technologies. The theme of the revitalization is also presented. Next to the multimedia screens with this information the visitors can find a huge, over 10 meters long artistic 3d projection from carbon forest to contemporary forest. Inside the tree blue coal and graphene are presented. FOREST is the area dedicated to polish forests and knowledge considering afforestation and the Forest Carbon Farm project. The next part of the exhibition REGIONS presents the achievements of Poland’s regions, issues related to renewable energy sources, as well as the beauty and culture of Poland, using multimedia – applications, presentations, videos etc. In the REST area, the visitors can relax and also sing the “Сулу кыз” song, which is a folk song common for Polish and Kazakh culture.

Comprised of a 14-meter lattice structure, Wolfgang Buttress‘ “pulsating” beehive is the UK's contribution. Made from 169,300 pieces of aluminium and steel, the domed structure sits at the end of a meandering wildflower meadow that leads visitors to the “hive.” Once inside, a sensory composition of audio and visual effects will mimic the activity of an existing beehive in Nottingham.

A team led by Russian architect Sergei Tchoban has developed a pavilion intended to celebrate Russian engineering – by adding an expansive floating entrance canopy with a curving mirrored underside and a roof garden above.

The Danish national pavilion will showcase sustainability on climate and energy solutions along with architecture and design. The architectural company, Bjarke Ingels Group, designed Denmark''s spiral-shaped pavilion.

The Dutch pavilion, called happy street, is built in the form of an 8 (a Chinese magic number) and represents a number of typical Dutch houses (28).