Le premier magazine international entre les Emirats arabes unis et la France, notamment entre Abu Dhabi, Dubaï et Paris.
June 2023 By Sarra Essouayeni, In Dubaï
Postponed for a year due to the health crisis, the Dubai 2020 World Expo or Expo Dubai was the largest event ever held in the Middle East. An event that will go down in history...
Five years ago, the site was still a sandy desert. With its disproportionate dome made of geometric shapes and lined with palm trees, Al Wasl Square was the center of the world from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The meeting point for all the media on the planet. Since 1851 and The Great Exhibition in London, World Expos have been international showcases showcasing the innovations that will change our world.
Since the construction of the Eiffel Tower (1889), they have also been an opportunity to achieve architectural feats. Expo Dubai, the flagship of modernity, was no exception to the rule.
It was also the first time that an Exhibition brought together 192 countries from across the world. The goal of “One Nation, One Pavilion” was conceived. Even smaller countries, those experiencing economic difficulties and internal crises were financially supported by the United Arab Emirates to enable them to be honoured. Enough to allow visitors to carry out an actual world tour over just 4.38 km2. Each of the 192 countries attending unveiled their most beautiful aspects to investors and tourists in a space that amazed as much as bewitched.
The chosen theme "Connecting minds, building the future" was unanimously appreciated. All the visitors appreciated the positive vision of the world, far from the anxiety-inducing news.
Around the motto Connecting People, the site was organized into three large areas, each dedicated to a particular theme: Mobility, Opportunity and Sustainability. These themes are presented in huge pavilions that are entirely focused on the future, on the evolution of the planet and on the solutions to achieve it.
Some of the pavilions at Expo Dubai were technical feats, others were architectural masterpieces. Starting with the pavilions of the Arab world.
The one in the United Arab Emirates was an incredible success: you had to book your access a week in advance. The host country, the United Arab Emirates, rose to the occasion. They built a pavilion that made a lasting impression.
Designed by the Spaniard Santiago Calatrava, the 15,000 m2 rose up on four floors and flew over the exhibition with its 28 giant wings inspired by a falcon in flight, the emblem of the monarchy. Inside, visitors were immersed in a spacey, futuristic and organic atmosphere.
The Saudi Arabia pavilion offered an extremely modern vision. It set three new records: the largest interactive light floor, the highest interactive water curtain and the largest interactive digital screen/mirror.
Architectural feat also on the side of the pavilion of Morocco with the largest building in the world built in earth! A unique feat signed by the talented architect, Tarik Oualalou.
The French Pavilion has also made its mark. Designed by Atelier Perez Prado and Celnikier & Grabli Architects (CGA), it is a little gem of technology. Designed as an oasis from which a canopy of light literally emerges, the building was built in accordance with the principles of bioclimatic architecture. It was almost self-sufficient in energy with its low consumption equipment and the 2,500 m2 de tuiles solaires intégrées dans son univers.
A facade and a square that are majestically colored by day and night, to show the Hexagon its most beautiful face. Jean Paul Gaultier closed the event. An exceptional exhibition traced the fifty-year career of the French designer. Designed to be dismantled and reused, the pavilion has already been bought by the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), which will install it in its Toulouse campus. There is life after Dubai 2020.
