CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, Italo Rota Building Office, F&M Ingegneria, Matteo Gatto & Associati have won the international competition to design the Italian Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020
Inspired by an ancient marine tradition, three boats will arrive in Dubai by sea and then be raised and turned upside down to become the roof of the pavilion, open from October 20th, 2020 to April 10th, 2021 in Dubai, U.A.E.
The Italian Pavilion explores the ways in which ‘beauty connects people’ – the theme of Italy’s participation in next year’s World’s Fair. A tribute to the long history of explorers who, throughout the centuries, sailed the seas and wove together a shared Mediterranean cultural heritage. The structure for Expo 2020 Dubai will take up a surface of around 3,500 square meters and will be over 25 meters tall. Seen from above, the three hulls will appear like three petals in the colors of the Italian flag.
Paolo Glisenti, General Commissioner for Italy at Expo 2020 Dubai, comments: “The project of Ratti, Rota, Gatto and F&M allows us to build not only an exhibition space, but a space that represents the best of Italian ingenuity, offering a memorable experience to visitors”.“The exhibition path will be marked by a gradual ascent until a point where it becomes possible, with some help from the imagination, to observe Italy from the sky,” explains architect Italo Rota, founding partner of Italo Rota Building Office. He also adds: “There will be a ‘Prologue’ with large spaces inspired by the forms of important Italian piazze, and a Grand Finale that will be almost like a cathedral to nature, to light, to the music of the universe, like the sky over the Mediterranean and the Desert.” The project continues CRA’s ongoing work in experimenting with innovative exhibition structures at the World Fairs.
[Text Annamaria Maffina]
