Australian Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai

The Australian Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai The Australian Government commissioned the design of the Australian Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai, which ran from October 2021 to March 2022. The Pavilion’s remarkable success stems from its design ingenuity in creating a welcoming venue for hospitality and culture, and a dynamic centre of trade and investment. The traditional concept of an Expo pavilion was turned upside down, creating an ‘anti-pavilion’, open to all. In this spirit of openness and collaboration, all Expo visitors were invited into the open-air forecourt terrain, where undulating, folded timber signified Australia’s distinctive landscape. Loosely but cleverly curated journeys and experiences, expressing Australia’s ancient culture and young mindset, enabled celebration, collaboration and transaction. In the client’s words, ‘the magnificent design enabled Australia to welcome the world with open arms at Expo 2020 Dubai.’ A collaboration between architecture and public art established the curatorial premise of ‘Blue Sky Dreaming’, referencing Australia’s creativity, diversity and 60,000 years of innovation. The cumulus cloud and seminal Australian landscape art inspired this sense of optimism and uplift in the built form―an ever-moving, natural phenomenon that signifies clear weather and infinite opportunity. A tectonic roof structure, the cloud was conceived as a series of white, vertical, aluminium panels suspended 21 metres above the crowds. This intricate, abstracted configuration shaded the forecourt and was the canvas for multimedia projections. The Pavilion met exacting sustainability standards, including waste minimisation and recycling. Reinforcing Australia’s ‘make-do’ culture, familiar, reusable and readily available products were used to circumvent unnecessary manufacturing processes and lessen environmental impact. Tasmanian eucalypt cross-laminated timber (CLT), which stores carbon from the atmosphere, was used as a grounding material. The Australian Pavilion was one of the most popular and engaging pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai, attracting 1.6 million in-person visitors and 30 million virtual visitors.