Foster + Partners Designs Monumental Mobility Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai

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Designed by Foster + Partners, Alif-The Mobility Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai blurs the boundaries between the physical and digital world, and invites visitors to meet the historical icons of mobility, whose innovations helped pave the way for our modern-day technology. The pavilion features the world’s largest passenger lift, which will be able to transport 160+ people at a time, and a semi-underground-semi-open-air 330-meter track which allows visitors to see cutting-edge mobility devices in action.

The Pavilion was named Alif after the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, symbolizing the "beginning of progress and new horizons". The pavilion will provide visitors with a thought-provoking experience by showcasing how mobility has been the driving force behind mankind’s development throughout the years, leading to explorations beyond Earth's frontiers.

The pavilion takes visitors on a trip beyond Earth, exploring uncharted territories that allow them to create the future they want. Visitors will learn about smart cities and how they are created through artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, machine learning, and autonomous transport. Visitors will also gain insights on the complex process of moving goods around the world, and how mobility could evolve in human-centered cities of the future.

Mobility is the movement of people, goods and services, capital, data, ideas and cultures. It can mean physical movement but is also about connections, real and virtual. We live in a world of limitless connections. Explore horizons that drive human progress, as mobility continues to transform the way we live, connect with people, understand different cultures, and exchange knowledge and ideas.

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Under the theme of “connecting minds and creating the future”, Expo 2020 Dubai will run from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022, after being delayed for one year due to the worldwide coronavirus situation. Located south of Dubai, the world expo’s master plan designed by HOK is centered on Al Wasl Plaza, by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, the world’s largest unsupported dome at the intersection of the expo's three thematic districts and their corresponding pavilions: the Sustainability Pavilion “Terra” by Grimshaw, the Mobility Pavilion “Alif” by Foster + Partners, and the Opportunity Pavilion “Mission Impossible” by AGi Architects. The Thematic Districts, which will house over 87 new permanent buildings and host the work of more than 136 participating countries have been created by Hopkins Architects.