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A global event that began in London in 1855, The International Expo has made its mark as a unifying opportunity for information exchange, innovation, and global cooperation to tackle the world's most pressing issues. The three-week to six-month exhibitions of industry and conceptual innovation takes place every few years, and the bid for 2017 was won by Astana, Kazakhstan, marking the first time the Expo will be hosted by a nation that was a member of the Soviet Union.
Harvesting sustainable energy is dubbed "humankind's greatest challenge" by the highly anticipated Expo 2017, the site for which is currently under construction. The three subsections of focus for the Expo are reducing carbon dioxide emissions, living energy efficiently, and harvesting energy for all. According to the Bureau International des Expositions, all participating nations will have to tackle any two of these issues in their exhibitions:
- Scientific research on future energy
- Cutting edge technology
- Governance
- Innovative business models
- Value change and social innovation
The master blueprint and 28 buildings were all master planned and designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and were conceptualized around the central theme of "future energy," a concept that aims to passively and actively reduce energy consumption while optimizing energy harvest methods by creating designs in favour of alternative energy and transportation sources. AS+GG's designs won an international design competition in 2013 featuring 105 entries from around the globe, and signed a design-build contract with IT Engineering soon afterwards to realize their designs.
Located south of Bayterek Tower and east of Nazabayev University, the site is defined by regional factors such as wind and sun orientations, weather conditions, and local culture, which all directed the forms of the structures during planning. Keeping the theme in mind, studies conducted on energy reduction and harvesting by the design team provided the information needed to create a site which collected a significant amount of energy from renewable energy sources. The interconnected infrastructure on the site includes a smart energy grid, a recycled water grid, a waste management system, and an underground thermal energy storage system.
Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill said the key challenge during the design process was to ensure that the spaces designed were primarily energy-efficient community spaces that could be used for the Expo and then put to practical use post-Expo. To leverage the investments made by various participating nations to improve the host nation's infrastructure is, according to the architects, to make good use of their Expo bid. With this in mind, the Expo construction was split into two phases, 'Expo mode' and 'post-Expo mode.' While the design scheme of the entire site ensures sustainability, the renderings show an aesthetic that combines colour with modernity and fluidity.
During Expo mode, the project will see the rise of hotels, colourful retail spaces, and iconic structures like the Kazakhstan pavilion as well as other themed, corporate, and international pavilions. This phase is to be completed by June 2017 in order to serve the Expo visitors and participants.
The Kazakhstan pavilion will be the centrepiece of the Expo site, a spherical structure clad with a skin designed to minimize heat loss and reduce glare within the pavilion. An integrated photo-voltaic energy system will moderate the energy use in the building while simultaneously harvesting energy.
The Astana Expo City's exposition will run from June 10 to September 10, 2017, after which the site will be converted into an office and innovation park with residential developments to attract international buyers during the 'post-Expo mode.' This development will be among the most sustainable in the world, with 100% of the post-Expo not-for-consumption water demand to be met by a reclamation facility and 24% of the post-Expo electrical demand to be met by photo-voltaic energy systems providing a 59% reduction in grid energy use.
AG+GG worked to avoid leaving a cluster of buildings behind after the Expo, and focused instead on leaving a mixed-use neighbourhood that could be used to "live, work and learn long after the Expo is over."
The buildings will incorporate high-performance solar glazing to maximize heat in the winter and shade in the summer and temperature modulation throughout the year by way of an exposed thermal mass. Additionally, all rainfall on the site will be managed on site and 90% of on-site waste will be diverted from landfills. Expo parking areas will be developed into additional residential neighbourhoods and exhibition pavilions will be transformed into office complexes while the entire site will be optimized for pedestrians and cyclists with public transportation connections to the rest of the city.
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