Italy’s eco-friendly Expo pavilion is made using orange peel and coffee grounds

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With three full-size, seaworthy boat hulls as its roof and a facade of nautical ropes made from recycled plastic, Italy’s pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 embraces the concept of reusable design.

Favored by an excellent placement within the Expo site — between the “Opportunity” and “Sustainability” thematic areas and with uninterrupted front and side views — the pavilion attracted a fifth of the overall visitors to the event in the opening weeks, making it one of the most successful.

“The biggest inspiration behind our design is the circular economy,” said architect Italo Rota, referring to the idea of recycling, repairing and reusing waste materials, rather than simply disposing of them.

Rota is one of the designers of the pavilion, and has worked extensively in Paris where he curated the lighting of both the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the banks of the Seine River. “The nautical ropes themselves are an example of it (the circular economy): they were produced through the recycling of 2 million plastic bottles and, when combined, they reach a length of 70 kilometers (43 miles). These are already planned for further recycling after the Expo.”

UAE pavilion —

Expo 2020 Dubai is now open, revealing a spectacular array of pavilions, many designed by world-famous architects. The UAE pavilion, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is a sight to behold, shaped like a falcon -- the country's national bird -- in flight. The structure is topped by falcon-wing shapes made of carbon fiber and fitted with solar panels.

Iran pavilion —

A series of blue boxes draped in fired clay balls make up the Iran pavilion. Each box showcases different elements of the country's culture, tradition and handicrafts. Streams of water accompany visitors down walkways and into the pavilion, designed by architects Shift Process Practice.

"Innovating for a shared future" is the theme of the UK pavilion. Designed by Es Devlin Studio, it offers to take visitors on a digital journey through the UK's role in space and artificial intelligence. The theme is reflected in the facade, which features continuously changing collective message generated by AI and visitors' contributions.

Australia pavilion —

The network of vertical aluminum panels that hangs like a cloud over timber structures is a key element of the Australia pavilion, designed by bureau^proberts. The "cloud" even lights up in the evening to mimic "the ancient and rugged landscape of Australia." Inside, the pavilion explores 60,000 years of Australian innovation, culture and creativity.

Pakistan pavilion —

Designed by Al Jabal Engineering, the Pakistan pavilion offers multi-sensory installations encapsulated in walls of color. The colorful façade is a "reflection of the beautiful changing seasons the country experiences, one of the most diverse on Earth," according to its designer, Rashid Rana. Inside, Pakistan's "hidden treasures" are showcased, including its spiritual traditions, history and sustainability initiatives.

The Russia pavilion, designed by Tchoban SPEECH, is a huge dome covered by strings of giant multi-colored tubes. It's meant to symbolize the question: How do we find our place in an interconnected world? Inside, it explores scientific advancements and creative innovations past and present.

A combination of traditional Arabesque and Japanese Asanoha patterns form the façade of the Japan pavilion, meant to symbolize the crossover of culture between Japan and the Middle East. Inside the structure, designed by Yuko Nagayama and Associates, visitors can see 3D art installations.

The Swiss Pavilion, "Reflections," represents the country's traditions and spectacular landscapes. Designed by architects OOS, its giant interactive mirror façade reflects the red carpet that leads to it, to show the national flag. Inside, a "crystal cave" showcases technology, innovation and scientific achievements through immersive displays, before visitors are led through a "sea of fog."

Built from reusable materials -- fabric, iron and wood -- the Spain pavilion is intended to promote sustainability. The structure, designed by Amann-Canovas-Maruri, is made of cone shaped "solar chimneys" that cool the pavilion and highlight Spain's links with the Arab world.

Designed by Italian architect Marco Pestalozza, the Kuwait pavilion is a digital showpiece, displaying images of the country's landscapes on its façade, and showcasing a vision for the country's future. Water towers stretch upwards through each level of the structure, symbolizing Kuwait's "commitment to sustainability and water security."

The German pavilion, themed as "Campus Germany," invites visitors to explore a "curriculum" covering energy, cities of the future and biodiversity within its "labs." The Graduation Hall features swinging seats and during a "graduation ceremony," visitors are encouraged to swing in unison to reflect how great achievements come from working together. The building, a vertical ensemble of cuboids, was designed by Facts And Fiction and LAVA.

Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany, and is the only national state to have its own pavilion in Dubai. Built by NÜSSLI Adunic, with a distinctive timber frame, visitors can activate digital flowers in the landscape using their smartphones and explore different topics through augmented reality.

Egypt's ancient civilization meets its vision for the future in its pavilion. Designed by Egyptian Hazem Hamada, the pavilion is decorated in hieroglyphs, while inside, giant screens explore the country's legacy and progress. The Great Pyramid of Giza is represented by the triangular gate through which visitors enter. Once inside, visitors are met with archaeological artifacts and interactive displays.

The six-story Saudi Arabia Pavilion, designed by Boris Micka, is the second-largest pavilion after that of the UAE, and has a sloping, rectangular structure. The "Heritage" escalator takes visitors up to experience the country's history and culture, while the "Future" escalator takes them down to explore modern Saudi Arabia through an LED mirror screen and an interactive water feature. The pavilion has been awarded the LEED Platinum Certificate for sustainability.

Not a pavilion, but a remarkable design nonetheless, the Al Wasl Plaza is the heart of Expo 2020, connecting the three thematic districts, Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. Al Wasl is the historic name for Dubai and also means "connection." The plaza holds the world's largest 360-degree projection dome. Made of 13.6 kilometers of steel, and designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the trellis steelwork forms the Expo logo.

Expo 2020 Dubai unveils its eye-catching pavilions

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Reducing the amount of waste at the end of the event was also a priority for co-designer Carlo Ratti, an architect and engineer who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “One thing I do not like about temporary events – like various international exhibitions or the Olympic Games – is that a huge amount of waste ends up in landfills after just a few weeks or months. This is why we wanted the Italian Pavilion to address the temporary nature of the Dubai Expo 2020. Most architectural elements are recycled or recyclable, reused or reusable.”

Both Rota and Ratti have previous experience with World Expos, having worked on projects for the last edition, held in Milan in 2015. The current exhibition, which was postponed from opening last year due to the pandemic and therefore retains its “2020” moniker, will remain open in Dubai until the end of March 2022.

The pavilion incorporates reusable design into its structure — via the use of organic elements such as orange peel and coffee grounds in the construction materials — and has a natural climate mitigation system that uses shading, misting and ventilation to replace air conditioning. There are no conventional walls, with the nautical ropes delineating the exhibition space instead, and also functioning as a multimedia surface through the use of LEDs that light up to display different colors and images.

Italy's pavilion features a facade of nautical ropes, made with 2 million recycled plastic bottles.

After entering, visitors find themselves on a skywalk 36 feet (11 meters) above ground level and right below the first hull.

Among the attractions are the “Belvedere,” a domed structure covered with wild Mediterranean herbs and meant to evoke Renaissance gardens, and a 3D-printed replica of Michelangelo’s famous David statue, made from detailed scans of the 16th-century original in Florence. The 17-foot figure spans two floors and its lower half is encased in a rotunda, somewhat limiting the view of it in favor of its head and upper torso. “We find it to be a stimulating idea for visitors to look at the David not just from the bottom up, as it happens with the original in Florence, but straight into his eyes,” says Ratti.

The 3D-printed replica of Michelangelo's David.

In the spirit of experimenting with different ways to bring the natural and artificial worlds together, the structure rests on a 16-feet-tall dune, made of locally sourced sand. The paths and walkways inside are adorned with 160 botanical species, a project jointly developed with botanists at Italy’s National Research Council.

The boat hulls that form the roof were built by Fincantieri, one of Europe’s largest shipbuilders, and there is a possibility that they could eventually be turned into actual functioning boats, says Ratti.

However, there are ongoing conversations about transforming the pavilion into a design center when the World Expo ends. “So the boat hulls might become victims of their own success,” Ratti says, “and it might take longer before they set sail.”