With one year to go until Expo 2020 Dubai, the organizing committee of the event has revealed new images of the main pavilions under construction. While the majority of the work in 2020 was focused on landscaping and the main Expo buildings, the construction of the 192 national pavilions is back on track, to conclude by the end of the year.
The event that will run from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022, is expected to attract more than 190 participating countries and millions of visitors. Delayed because of the worldwide coronavirus situation, Expo 2020 Dubai has unveiled images of the construction progress of the Sustainability Pavilion by Grimshaw, the Mobility Pavilion by Foster + Partners, Al Wasl Plaza by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture as well as conceptual schemes of the Opportunity Pavilion by AGi Architects. Moreover, new pavilions such as Russia’s and Norways’s have been featured.
Expected originally for this month, a big part of the construction site has been completed. Located South of Dubai, the Expo 2020 master plan by HOK, is centered on Al Wasl Plaza, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, at the intersection of the expo's three thematic districts and their corresponding pavilions: Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability. Adjacent to the dome, the UAE Pavilion by Calatrava is also taking shape, while the 21-meter-high gate designed by Asif Khan is ready to receive guests.
Comprising more than 86 permanent buildings designed by Hopkins Architects, the expo has completed its pedestrian walkways, running along from the central plaza to each of the thematic districts. The Sustainability Pavilion, created by Grimshaw, will transform into a science museum after the expo. Surrounded by a forest of solar trees, “the 1,055 solar panels on Terra’s 130-meter wide canopy – help generate 4GWh of alternative energy per year, enough electricity to charge more than 900,000 mobile phones”. Foster + Partners' Mobility Pavilion is almost done, featuring “the world’s largest passenger lift, which will transport 160+ people at a time”. Photographs of the Opportunity pavilion are yet to be revealed.
