With less than half a year to go until the opening, Expo 2020 Dubai released a series of images of the venues hosting the event, which intends to bring together 192 national pavilions, as well as businesses and educational institutions. As the program was delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world expo site is mainly complete, awaiting its opening on October 1st.
As the opening date approaches, the organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai unveil images of the exhibition's main buildings and public spaces. Al Wasl Plaza, the spherical lattice structure designed by Adrian Smith+ Gordon Gill Architecture, stands finished at the intersection of the three thematic districts, and a few hundred meters away is the Dubai Exhibition Centre. The pedestrian areas featuring tree-like structures running along the thematic districts are also ready, and Asif Khan's entry portals are waiting to welcome visitors.
Already becoming an iconic building for Expo2020 Dubai is the Sustainability Pavilion designed by Grimshaw, featuring over a thousand photovoltaic panels on its roof canopy. The thematic pavilion, dubbed Terra, was open to the public between January and April as part of the Pavilions Premiere event. The building will be converted into a museum after the expo. The premiere was a successful rehearsal for the safety measures accompanying the exhibition starting October. Earlier this month, hundreds of delegates representing nations, organizations and academic institutions met in Dubai to discuss different matters of the exhibition, including the measures which will be set in place to ensure safety in light of the pandemic.
Continuing the historical tradition of world international exhibitions, the EXPO 2020 Dubai is the first to take place in the Middle East. With a masterplan created by architecture firm HOK, the expo features three thematic districts, each with a dedicated pavilion. The event revolves around the theme of "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future", organized around ideas of sustainability, mobility and opportunity.
