SINGAPORE - A canopy walk amid lush vertical greenery and an open platform offering vantage points - these are some of the displays that visitors will get to experience at the Singapore Pavilion at next year's World Expo in Dubai.
Titled "Nature. Nurture. Future", the 1,550 sq m pavilion will have the ambience of a tropical garden, to showcase Singapore's City in a Garden image.
The Expo 2020 Dubai will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from Oct 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021, with its overall theme being "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future".
Held every five years, the World Expo is a six-month-long event where countries showcase themselves through themed pavilions. The upcoming edition will see 192 countries participating and is expected to attract 25 million visits.
The event in Dubai will mark Singapore's fourth presentation at the World Expo after 2000, 2005 and 2010. Singapore did not participate in the 2015 edition held in Milan, Italy.
The Singapore Pavilion, designed by local architecture firm Woha and produced by Radius Experiential International, runs entirely on solar energy and solar desalination systems, said Woha in a media release.
The pavilion will be net-zero in energy over the six-month World Expo period, meaning that the structure produces more energy than it consumes.
"The key idea is to create an oasis in the Arabian desert," said Woha.
The pavilion will house three large modular garden cones draped in vertical greenery.
A canopy walk, which leads visitors through the exhibits, connects all three cones. It opens up to a platform that offers visitors vantage points of the expo site.
Singapore's participation in the Dubai World Expo is led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), along with partners from the public and private sectors.
URA chief executive Lim Eng Hwee says: "The Singapore Pavilion is centred on our country's guiding ethos of sustainable growth where we can have both economic growth and a high quality living environment.
"Through it, we hope to celebrate Singapore's spirit of ingenuity and creativity by profiling Singapore's innovative urban solutions, design and capabilities through programmes and activities that will take place during the expo."
At the World Expo in 2010 held in Shanghai, Singapore had showcased a 3,000 sqm music box-like structure with the theme "Urban Symphony".
Spearheaded by the Singapore Tourism Board, the pavilion cost $30 million to build.
Mid-way through the expo, the pavilion had a makeover and included additional features such as a life-sized Formula One race car and multicultural costume displays.
