Architecture firm Jasmax has been selected to design New Zealand's National Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. New Zealand will participate in Expo 2020 from October 2020 to April 2021. Expo 2020 Dubai will bring together 180 nations and 25 million international visitors. Over six months, the event will inspire collaboration on global challenges and opportunities. New Zealand’s theme for Expo 2020 is 'Care for People and Place'. The pavilion will feature an exhibition experience, corporate hosting facilities, a restaurant and design store.
The New Zealand Pavilion will be located in the Sustainability District. The project is designed to promote New Zealand as a country to trade and partner with, invest in, study and visit. The Pavilion is designed by Jasmax architects with Special Group as creative storytellers and Mott MacDonald providing engineering services. The pavilion was inspired by waka taonga, receptacles made by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, to safe-guard items of considerable intrinsic value. The beautifully carved containers called waka huia and papahou, are important cultural symbols for protection and the maintenance of values and practices. They were gifted to strengthen relationships, create new partnerships and maintain traditions and stories from one generation to the next. The architectural concept uses the waka taonga as a way of bringing people together and it reflects the theme of Expo 2020. At Expo 2020, the pavilion will be presented as a waka taonga - a receptacle for essential aspects of New Zealand’s identity and values.
For the Expo 2020 Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, selected the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. New Zealand’s gift to the world will be their kaitiakitanga, a 'Care for People and Place'.
