Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, FacadeMorocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Interior Photography, Stairs, Brick, Facade, HandrailMorocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, WindowsMorocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, FacadeMorocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - More Images+ 23

  • Client: Kingdom of Morocco EXPO 2020 Dubai
  • Design Team: Alia Ben Ammar (Site Architect), Daniel Larré (Project Architect), Chloé Zimmermann, Daniele Pasin, Alexandre Beaudouin-Lafon
  • Site Area: 1467 m²
  • PMC: Mace
  • Façade Engineer: TESS
  • Local Architect: E.Construct
  • Perspectives: Metrochrome
  • City: دبي
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Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Facade
Courtesy of Oualalou+Choi

Text description provided by the architects. The Morocco Pavilion at the 2020 Expo in Dubai, designed by architects OUALALOU+CHOI, showcases how traditional Moroccan design and construction techniques can find new relevance in contemporary design and urban development efforts. As a pioneering work of rammed earth construction—the building’s 4000 m² rammed earth facade will be the largest of its kind—the Pavilion aims to push the technical and creative limits of Morocco’s traditional building materials to new heights, while paying tribute to the country’s rich and varied culture and landscape.

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Marc Goodwin
Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Image 21 of 28
Ground Floor Plan
Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade
© Marc Goodwin

Comprised of 22 stacked rectangular volumes visually resonant with vernacular rammed-earth villages in Morocco, the Pavilion encompasses 14 exhibition spaces, a traditional Moroccan restaurant, a tea room, a modern street food area, a shop, an event space, an office space, and a lounge. Arranged vertically around a deep inner courtyard—an important spatial element in traditional Moroccan architecture—each of these spaces are connected by a continuous “inner street,” which begins at the building’s uppermost floor and gradually descends to the ground floor.

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Interior Photography, Stairs, Brick, Facade, Handrail
Courtesy of Oualalou+Choi

The Pavilion’s street organizes a set route between sequential exhibition spaces, allowing visitors to come into contact with and experience the different regions and cultures of Morocco. Along this exhibition route, the restaurant, tea room, lounge, and ten hanging gardens offer visitors moments of pause and framed views of the surrounding Expo as they descend to the Pavilion’s ground level. Alternative means of traveling between levels can be found in the building’s eastern core, where a 15 m² elevating platform and exhibition space can bring up to 50 people at a time from the ground to the seventh floor.

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Windows
© Marc Goodwin
Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Image 26 of 28
South Elevation

The Pavilion’s exterior envelope is composed of a 4000 m², 33-meter-high rammed earth facade, an ambitious technical feat pioneering in its advancement of rammed earth construction methods. Rammed earth, traditional building material in Morocco, plays a key role in passively regulating indoor conditions in hot and arid places. Its use in the Pavilion proves that it is material at once traditional and innovative, offering an example of how traditional Moroccan building methods can serve to inspire more sustainable models of urban development. In conjunction with other passive strategies used in the design of the building, such as wooden interior facades which double as sunscreens, the rammed earth facade allows the Pavilion to answer fully to the demanding ecological standards of LEED.

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade, Windows
© Marc Goodwin

In line with this commitment to sustainability, after the conclusion of the 2020 Expo, the Pavilion will be converted into a housing complex, with existing facilities thoughtfully adapted into apartments, an 80 m² swimming pool, a fitness club, and a shared lounge.

Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI - Exterior Photography, Facade, Windows
© Marc Goodwin

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Project location

Address:Unnamed Road - دبي - United Arab Emirates

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Morocco Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / OUALALOU+CHOI" 26 Jul 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/965555/morocco-pavilion-expo-2020-dubai-oualalou-plus-choi> ISSN 0719-8884

© Marc Goodwin

2020迪拜世博会摩洛哥馆 / OUALALOU+CHOI

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