Expo 2020 Unveils Signature Pavilion iIn Dubai
Dubai unveiled the signature pavilion for the upcoming Expo 2020, the world’s fair that is scheduled to open later this year even as the global pandemic that forced its postponement continues to rage. The Terra Pavilion, which features a towering 130 meter-wide (426 feet) canopy blanketed with thousands of solar panels, is part of the sheikhdom’s push to rally enthusiasm for the high-stakes expo amid the pandemic that has pummeled its economy. The massive structure, devoted to environmental sustainability, rises from the fairgrounds on the desert outskirts of Dubai, where construction workers still scurry around national pavilions in various stages of completion. Dubai’s Expo 2020 is expected to draw 25 million visitors and a flurry of business deals. The event represents a $7 billion bet by the city in the United Arab Emirates to boost international tourism and investment. The yearlong delay puts even more pressure on the event to spur Dubai’s service-heavy economy, which was sputtering before the pandemic thanks to a shaky real estate market. The Terra Pavilion, which cost over $272 million, is designed to produce as much electricity as it uses, making it both energy and carbon neutral. It will supply and treat all of its own water, capturing rain in a vast underground cistern. The 25,000 square-meter pavilion boasts immersive experiences of forests and oceans as well as interactive exhibits guiding visitors through the history of environmental decline and dangers of overconsumption. The vast eruption of climate-controlled steel and glass teems with butterflies, lizards and insects. Thick clumps of reeds lining the building filter air conditioning wastewater for reuse. While the theme of sustainability may seem at odds with spending billions of dollars on the construction of hundreds of buildings designed to last only for the fair’s six months, Expo Dubai is different.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL Buildings Sustainability Dubai Environmental Expo 2020 Solar Panels