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Ever since the first recognized World Fair was held in London in 1855, the leading industrial, financial, and intellectual powers of the world have been showcasing their expertise every few years during three-week to six-month exhibitions. While the next fair will take place in Astana, Kazakstan, in 2017, Dubai is getting ready to welcome more than 25 million visitors for World Expo 2020. From October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021, close to 250 participants ranging from corporations to countries will feature innovative ideas related to Expo 2020's theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.
Divided into three sub-themes — Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability — the Expo will occupy a 438-hectare site located next to Dubai's new Al Maktoum International Airport. The master plan for the new precinct was designed by the international design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm HOK. It will be organized around a central plaza referred to as Al Wash, Dubai's ancestral Arabic name meaning 'the connection.' The centre of the site will be marked by HOK's canopy made from solar panels that is expected to generate at least half of the energy required for the Expo, while extending above the main pathways leading to the Expo's three main themed areas located on the edge of the exposition grounds.
Indeed, the three sub-themes will be symbolized by three large pavilions designed by some of the world's leading architectural firms. The winning designs were recently released after 13 competitors submitted their plans as part of a international competition managed by Emaar Properties. Early renderings of the final structures show Bjarke Ingels Group's angular Opportunity Pavilion, with its outward tilting white facades and archways leading to a central planted courtyard.
The Mobility Pavilion, imagined by Foster + Partners, will consist of a three-winged building surrounded by one of the many open spaces designed to encourage interaction between visitors during the fair.
Finally, the Grimshaw Architects-designed Sustainability Pavilion will boast a series of satellite dish-like structures covered in solar panels. After Expo 2020, this pavilion is intended to become a centre for the promotion of innovative technologies, while the other two main pavilions will become part of a National Museum.
The Expo will also include a series of other smaller pavilions located ear the centre of the site, in an attempt to recreate the ambiance of a traditional souk. Several areas dedicated to residential purposes will ensure the site's future as a long term 'cluster' centre promoting innovative technologies, a leading sector in the emirate's development. This will be the second time in history and in a row that a World Expo is held in the Middle East.
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