GCC on Tour

The Expo is a carnival of humanity.

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Middle East Architect speaks to those responsible for the design of the main pavilions at this year's Shanghai Expo in China.

United Arab Emirates
Theme: Sand Dune
Architect: Foster + Partners

The Saudis may have spent the most cash on their pavilion, but the UAE’s remains one of the biggest in Shanghai, and has the benefit of being fully recyclable – the whole thing will be taken apart and brought back to the UAE in October.

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Designed by Foster + Partners, the pavilion is modeled on a sand dune, constructed from a two-metre triangulated grid of oxide-colorized steel. But although the firm’s in house modeling group had a difficult task, Shanghai’s unpredictable weather was the main challenge during construction.

“The main shell was constructed in just six months during a season of heavy rain – that was quite an impressive feat,” said architect Gerard Evenden.

The decision to base the design on a sand dune was not only to draw attention to the UAE’s climate, but also to flaunt the country’s emphasis on sustainable building.

“The curve of the dune responds to the arc of the sun and is orientated towards the north, with the solid shell forms protecting against the direct glare from the south and allowing indirect light to enter the habitable areas via a complex series of louvres,” Evenden said.

The architect was, however, tight-lipped about where the pavilion will go come October. “I’m afraid it is too premature to discuss its location after the Expo at this stage,” he said.

Saudi Arabia
Theme: Moon Boat
Architect: China Electronics Engineering Design Institute (CEEDI)

The Saudi pavilion is quite a hit in China, not only because it is designed by local architect Wang Zhenjun, but also because it is the most expensive and second biggest (after China, of course).

Wang’s ‘moon boat’ design beat over 40 other submissions from around the world, making him somewhat of a hero in the local press.

Wang, who worked with Saudi Arabian architects throughout the design process, said that he chose to base the pavilion on the moon boat as it is something that appears in both Chinese and Arabian fairytales, while the date trees on the top of the structure, “symbolised the friendship between the two countries”.

The poles that hold the 5,000 m2 boat in place also act as elevators. “A well-designed pavilion must be effective in getting visitors involved, so that they are not passively looking at it, but are also happily experiencing it,” Wang said, describing the Expo generally as a “carnival of humanity.”

Oman
Theme: The Voyages of Sinbad
Architect: City Neon

Designed by Bahrain and Singapore based architects City Neon, Oman’s Expo offering is not on a similar scale to its neighbors, but at 2,000 square meters it is not among the smallest pavilions either.

The pavilion combines two of the country’s most famous attributes, its historic forts and its traditional merchant ships, the Ganjahs.

City Neon, who declined to comment on the project when contacted by Middle East Architect, used glass to illustrate the traditional Omani sailing ship, contrasting it with the distinctive round tower of Oman’s old capital, Nizwa. At the front of the pavilion the tower of Sohar, a city once known as the Gateway to China, now once again welcomes visitors from Shanghai.