Terra, The Sustainability Pavilion: Expo 2020

Terra is a vivid experience inviting visitors to explore some of the most dramatic and vital issues of our age: climate change, mass pollution, insatiable consumption, and what it will take to save ourselves and planet Earth.

Set upon the global stage of Dubai's World Expo 2020 (delayed to 2021-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the Pavilion weaves theatrical displays, hands-on play, and spell-binding immersion to take visitors on an unforgettable journey through wonder, madness, delight, and hope. Vibrant, multi-sensory exhibits draw people into entirely new ways of seeing our world as they travel under the ocean or through forest tree roots, discovering the connections that bind these worlds to each other and to humankind. Visitors witness how ocean and forest environments are imperiled by rampant consumption and pollution. They are then challenged to consider how human behaviors are destroying the equilibrium with the natural world necessary to our survival. Ultimately, Terra frames sustainability as a quest we must all embrace to protect what we value most ourselves.

Created in collaboration with the Eden Project International and Grimshaw Architects, the Pavilion is expected to attract more than six million visitors during the Expo. Following the Expo, Terra will then be transformed into Dubai's permanent museum on sustainability.

  • Client: Expo 2020
  • Architect: Grimshaw Architects
  • Summary: Exhibition Planning and Design
  • Project Type: Exposition
  • Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Size: 92,000 Square feet
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