DUBAI: Expo 2020 Dubai's Opportunity Pavilion is one of the main exhibitions featured at the mega global event. Dubbed 'Mission Possible', the structure was designed by AGi Architects; an international design firm with head offices in Kuwait and Madrid. It resembles a large public plaza with a universal architectural identity since the feature has transcended generations, cultures and eras.
Opportunity is one of the three main themes of this year's expo, alongside Sustainability and Mobility, which explore how people can "unlock the potential of individuals and communities, highlighting that each of us has a role to play in creating positive change". The Opportunity Pavilion project revolves around the people, says Nasser Abulhasan, AGi Architects co-founder. "The whole idea is to provide a great platform for the people to begin to interconnect," he told Kuwait Times.
A ceramic layer covers the ground and facades of the pavilion, making it seem as though the structure is wrapped with a terracotta carpet. "The main public plaza is designed in a way that allows people to be brought up from the main entrance through the light as they walk on the 'carpet', or the floor that has a brownish, earthy color," Abulhasan explained. The design helps emphasize on the pavilion's public spaces and how humans circulate and interact within it.
The pavilion also includes a canopy which floats 32 meters above the ground, symbolizing dreams that people aspire to achieve. The cloud-like element is composed of six textile layers of fabric on metal structures, shielding the plaza from direct sun exposure. The canopy plays with transparency, light, shadows, and color, constantly transforming with respect to the time of day, light, and people's movements.
AGi Architects was handpicked to design the Opportunity Pavilion, which is a public space that allows every visitor from every corner of the planet and every walk of life to connect across age, language and culture, working together to achieve meaningful, positive change for our planet and its people.
Established in 2015 by Nasser Abulhasan and Joaquin Perez-Goicoechea, AGi Architects has a large team of more than 50 architects in its Kuwait and Madrid offices. With a noticeable international character and a multidisciplinary focus, AGi Architects offers a professional service emphasizing quality, creativity and exclusive design. AGi Architects has a vision to create environments that create a lasting value for clients through distinctive and imaginative solutions.