1 Month to Go: Expo Dubai 2020 Reveals New Images

Written by Christele Harrouk
Published on September 13, 2021

With Expo 2020 Dubai scheduled to debut in less than a month, new drone shots of the venue highlight water and garden features. Aiming to “explore the power of connections in shaping our world”, Expo 2020 Dubai will run from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022, under strict Covid regulations, after a year delay due to the worldwide pandemic.

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Focused on architecture, culture, and innovation, the world expo, held for the first time in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, will gather almost 191 national participants. New images circulating showcase completed structures such as the Dubai Exhibition Centre and Al Wasl Plaza by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, the world’s largest unsupported dome at the intersection of the expo's three thematic districts, ready pavilions such as France by Atelier Pérez Prado + Celnikier & Grabli, Nigeria and Germany by GmbH and ADUNIC AG (concept design, planning, and implementation) and LAVA (architecture/spatial concepts), while also revealing never seen visualizations of China and India’s interventions.

1 Month to Go: Expo Dubai 2020 Reveals New Images - Image 2 of 19 — Al Wasl Plaza. Image Courtesy of Expo 2020 Dubai

Expo 2020 Dubai has also unveiled images of an observation tower soaring 55 meters above the ground, located in Jubilee Park, with an upper-planted floor planted, designed by Asif Khan. In fact, the London-based designer was also responsible for creating the Expo’s three Entry Portals using strands of ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber composite and Expo 2020’s Public Realm. In addition, situated between Al Wasl Plaza and Jubilee Park, the Expo 2020 will include giant sheets of water tumbling down 13-meter-high vertical walls, created by California-based WET Design. These water features are encircled by a series of curving paths with at the center a circle of fire that produces bursts of flames.

Centered on Al Wasl Plaza, the HOK master plan combines three thematic districts: the Sustainability Pavilion “Terra” by Grimshaw, the Mobility Pavilion “Alif” by Foster + Partners, and the Opportunity Pavilion “Mission Impossible” by AGi Architects. Pavilions will be located within these districts. Other previous photographs have already underlined the completed Australia Pavilion by bureau^proberts, the Ireland Pavilion by Ciarán O'Connor, and Russia’s cylindrical pavilion designed by Tchoban SPEECH at the Mobility district. Moreover, at the opportunity district, the Switzerland pavilion was imagined by OOS, the UK pavilion by Es Devlin, and the USA pavilion by Woods Bagot.