ProjectsItalian Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai

Our proposal for the Italian Pavilion of Expo2020 in Dubai (classified 4° in the international competition) is a modular building conceived with the idea of using recycled and valuable materials brought from Italy.

Once the Expo would be over, 90% of this project would have been recovered and donated for the construction of a school in L’Aquila, in the region of Abruzzo.⁠⁠⁠⁠The concept of the project is centred around a concept: ‘The beauty that unites‘.

⁠⁠⁠⁠It is an architectural organism with a simple geometry, but characterised by a sinuous envelope. Four “petals” are connected to the central part, where the visitor is invited to explore a succession of environments filled with sensorial experiences.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Date 2020

State Competition, 4th Place Finalist

Location Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Category Exhibition

Concept

Our proposal for the Italian pavilion was inspired by the Hortus Conclusus, literally an “enclosed garden” in latin, a major theme in the religious and artistic Italian tradition.⁠

In its partition into four areas we find the metaphorical setting of the medieval garden and the reference to the four Aristotelian elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire.⁠

This internal universe of revisited nature finds its perimeter in a regular volume that follows the geometry of the site. But the protective fence of the Hortus Conclusus in the new meaning is deconstructed, opening up to the outside world and revealing the secret garden that it guards.⁠

The exhibition itinerary extends through environments that are intertwined. Spacial narrative that crosses the Fountain Square, the Vertical Garden, the Italy that Explores Area, The Orchestra of Excellence, The Idea Tower, The Innovation Hub.⁠
Piazza della Fontana

Water is the guiding element of the narrative that accompanies the visitor throughout the journey until the end of the Experience.⁠⁠
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The center of the agora, entitled Piazza della Fontana (The Square of the Fountain), is celebrated by a large full-height transparent 27 meter high fountain and symbolises the beauty that irrigates the ‘fields’ of Italian history, culture and creativity.⁠⁠
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An immense living space opens up in front of the visitor, welcoming him and projecting him into a sea of air and light that filters from the outside and the natural green all around. The space acts as a connector between the four parts of the Pavilion.

As the visitor moves, he discovers the architecture and grasps the possibilities of visiting that await him: Tower of Ideas, exhibition areas, Auditorium, Education lab, cafeteria and suspension bridges.⁠⁠

Interior Space

In the Idea of the Pavilion we envisioned the visitor is catapulted into a wonder machine.⁠⁠
An immense living space, which welcomes it and projects it into a sea of ​​air, of light that filters from the outside and of natural green all around.

The use of walkways on the one hand allows you to develop a single path without having to retrace your steps and without interruptions, on the other, it allows you to observe the space from close angles that change the initial impression.⁠⁠

The visit is as physical as it is digital. Traditional use and interactive one are closely intertwined in all environments, with the aim of amplifying the experiences lived through the social networks, creating connections with the outside world and future opportunities to deepen and remember.⁠⁠

A barrier-free space to meet and explore. A real hub. The best exemplification of the beauty that unites.
Here is the key to interpreting this space, in which people arriving from the outside world can make a smooth transition.⁠⁠

Sustainability – Passive Cooling

In terms of energy consumption during the life cycle of the building, the type of envelope allows to obtain the maximum natural shading effect of the glazed and non-glazed infill surfaces, creating a condition of passive protection from solar radiation.⁠⁠
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The extensive presence of water, both running and vaporised, in the architectural elements, contributes to a natural cooling of the internal and external environments.⁠⁠
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The internal air cooling and control system, based on the adiabatic principle, allows an extremely consistent containment of consumption.⁠⁠

The shape of the building is optimal for recreating the functioning of the ‘wind tower’ effect, designed so that the winds are channeled, carried to the rooms to be air-conditioned and, once warm, evacuated from the openings in the roof thanks to the chimney effect.⁠⁠
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The evaporative cooling process is exploited in the waiting area at the entrance to the Pavilion in our proposal, thanks to the construction of water walls that form the access promenades, creating an adaptive comfort path, which allows you to pass from the external to the internal temperature gradually.⁠⁠

⁠The goal is to contain the air conditioning intervention as much as possible so as to entrust the building structure itself, its orientation and the surrounding climatic context with the task of creating the conditions of internal comfort.⁠⁠

Sustainability – Reuse

⁠The use of sheet piles in the foundation allows the site of the Pavilion to be returned at the end of the Expo, in the same conditions in which it was delivered, essentially a “Green Field”.⁠⁠
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The “dry” assembly and processing make are beneficial because of very low water consumption.⁠⁠
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Once the Expo would be over, 90% of this project would have been recovered and donated for the construction of a school in L’Aquila, in the region of Abruzzo.⁠⁠

We can think of the future as a territory where we can “bring” projects, dreams, fears and hopes.⁠⁠
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A place that deserves to be explored, mapped and told.⁠⁠
Exploration is a profession that Italians know how to do well. We have always traveled across the seas and oceans to find colonies and emporiums, to discover continents and open new routes. From Marco Polo onwards we have peacefully traced the trade routes of the world, and we can say that we have been global ante litteram.⁠⁠
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We have applied this frontier spirit in many fields: in science, culture, industry, society and politics.⁠⁠
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The Italian Pavilion we have imagined also wants to be this. A message of cultural integration and acceptance of diversity as a value.⁠⁠

Team
Architectural Project Studio Transit s.r.l.

Electrical Systems Esa Engineering
Structural Engineering MSC Associates
Experience Design e Storytelling SIMMETRICO

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