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2015 MILAN EXPO
REINTERPRETATION ODF A DESERT CITY
UAE PAVILION
ARCHITECTS:
FOSTER + PARTNERS
Foster + Partners have unveiled the design for the United Arab Emirates pavilion at
the 2015 Milan Expo. Designed to evoke the experience of walking through UAE’s
ancient communities, the elongated site will be transformed into a contemporary
reinterpretation of a desert city. Passive principles, such as rainwater harvesting and the
integration of photovoltaic cells, are targeted to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
These strategies are all designed to support the pavilion’s many dining areas, which
embrace the Expo’s overarching theme Feeding the Planet” by serving a taste of modern
Emirati cuisine.
“We are very proud to be chosen again to create the national pavilion for the UAE stated
Norman Foster. “Our challenge has been to design for two climates – to create a
naturally cool, comfortable space for visitors in Milan, while considering the pavilion’s
ultimate reconstruction in the Emirates, where there is a need to provide shade from the
intense sun”.
The UAE Pavilion, which will be built near the Expo’s center on a narrow , 40-meter
site, will be accessed through a “dramatic canyon-like entrance;’ as Foster described,
which is defined by two undulating 12- meter high walls. This entrance will lead
visitors from the Expo’s main circulation artery into an intimate sequence of intuitive,
self-shading circulation paths that are reminiscent of the narrow pedestrian streets
found in ancient desert cities.