Expo 2020 Dubai site visit
We have been invited for this very exciting Expo site visit and we were impressed with the number of initiatives and events that are planned to kick off from October onwards. We are not allowed to talk about it, but we are sure that giving you some of the official Expo 2020 Dubai’s numbers will give you an idea of what to expect!
As you probably already know, the World Expo was scheduled to be hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, originally for 20 October 2020 – 10 April 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates, the new dates are 1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022. Despite being postponed, organizers will keep the name Expo 2020 for marketing and branding purposes. It is the first time that a World Exposition has been postponed to a later date rather than cancelled. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) General Assembly in Paris named Dubai as the host on 27 November 2013.
The main site of Expo 2020 Dubai, around 20 minutes drive from Dubai Marina, is a 438-hectare area (1083 acres), approx. 2 times the surface of Monaco-Monte Carlo just to give you an idea.
The master plan is organized around a central plaza, entitled Al Wasl. Al Wasl is the historical name for Dubai but also means “connection” in Arabic, reflecting both Dubai’s goal of bringing people together at the Expo and the plaza’s physical location at the heart of the site. The plaza will connect the three thematic districts: Opportunity, Sustainability, and Mobility. These themes manifest in as many iconic pavilions and districts that will dominate the site of show, conveying important messages about how we impact the world around us, and challenging visitors to become agents of change for the good of all the world’s inhabitants.
The plaza will be topped by a 65-meter-high domed trellis (The Dome) that was inspired by the shape of the Expo 2020 Dubai logo and will act as an immersive 360-degree projection surface. As The Dome is translucent, the projection will be visible to both those inside and out of the covered plaza. Numerous other features in the plaza include restaurants, fountains, and parks. Post-event, the plaza will continue to serve as a community space for major events while connecting hotels and offices
Over 190 countries signed up to take part in the six-month World Expo and they are also progressing their respective pavilions positively. For the first time in World Expo history, every participating country will have its own pavilion. Some Countries, Italy, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia just to name a few, will gift their Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion to the UAE. After the Expo, some will turn into educational structure, some into research structure. The three-storey Luxembourg Pavilion, for example, will serve as a “laboratory for rethinking ever-pressing questions around natural resources”. Indeed the Expo 2020 Dubai site will live long after we close our doors at the end of March 2022, as it transitions into District 2020. This sustainable, human-centric smart city will reuse at least 80% of the Expo-built infrastructure, including LEED gold and platinum-certified buildings. The UAE Pavilion, a falcon-shaped structure designed by Santiago Calatrava, will become a cultural centre. The 15,000-square-kilometre centre will play a key role in disseminating Emirati culture and history even post Expo 2020.
For more information: https://www.expo2020dubai.com/