Kuwait has risen to the occasion of the Arab world's first World Expo ambition. The huge magnitude of the little Gulf kingdom's representation at Expo 2020 Dubai demonstrates that the pavilion design, content, and messaging received a significant lot of consideration and attention.
Kuwait City has a history of using architecture to tell its preferred story. Since the advent of oil urbanism, it has seen a number of important modifications, frequently as a result of ambitious, state-led development efforts that have continually attempted to replace the old with the new.
In Kuwait City's ancient urban centre, practically all pre-oil structures were demolished around 1950 to create a new, contemporary city. Since 2003, a fresh building cycle has replaced the modernist landscape with something even more modern. Kuwait's ambitions for Expo 2020 are consistent with the country's past, present, and future.
The 5,600-square-meter Kuwaiti pavilion, designed by Italian architect Marco Pestalozza, rests beautifully on a huge central plot near Al-Wasl in the Sustainability District, defined by its irregular, roughly circular shape and gold exterior panels with geometric motifs.
The pavilion's design pays homage to Kuwait's urban development history. A funnel fills the centre of the pavilion, reaching from the roof to ground level, and is based after the iconic towers built immediately after Kuwait got independence in 1961 to hold desalinated water.
The pavilion's key concepts of connectedness, sustainability, and diversification away from oil are all conveyed in simple yet powerful ways, as evidenced by the marked visual transformation.
Visitors are met by a giant, curved screen on which a film exploring Kuwaiti origins, revealing the kingdom's present, and offering a glimpse into the kingdom's future plays on a loop.
The story is recounted from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl, demonstrating Kuwait's dedication to social improvement by focusing on the importance of future generations of women.
Kuwait is the only Gulf Cooperation Council country with a pavilion in the expo's Sustainability District, aside from Qatar. This is an unusual choice, given the ostensible contradiction between Kuwait's economic mainstay, the oil industry, and the need to transition to other, more sustainable energy sources.
Kuwait's pavilion designers, on the other hand, openly acknowledge this apparent contradiction by emphasizing the kingdom's actual intention to diversify away from oil. This pavilion, perhaps more than any other, provides a glimpse of a country ready and eager to embrace change in the present as well as the future.
One of the most striking features of the Kuwaiti pavilion is its focus on connectivity, which aligns with Expo 2020 Dubai's overall theme of "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future." The essential purpose of connecting people with one another, with the environment, and with the best qualities of humanity lies beneath the stunning building and fascinating tale.
Kuwait's pavilion at Expo 2020 tells a varied tale about itself, reflecting the diverse nature of its culture, from its focus on sustainability to empowering its youth to lead the country and its people into the future.
Kuwait has a history of undergoing cultural changes. The country demonstrates its intent to push forward with its Vision 2035 development agenda through the lens of sustainability at Expo 2020.
You may visit the link below for more details:
https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/understanding-expo/participants/country-pavilions/kuwait
