Madrid-based architecture office Amann-Cánovas-Maruri has added colorful conic roofs to Spanish Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. 

The pavilion, located in the Sustainability District of the Expo site, is intended to be seen as iconic architecture that is adapted to Dubai’s high temperatures and highlights Spain’s connection with the Arab world.

Referencing to the Expo’s main theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, the Spain Pavilion aims to become an example of intelligent creativity, capable of uniting people around sustainable projects in the fields of science, technology, production, education and art.

Covering a total of 5,800-square-metre area, the pavilion attracts visitors’ attention with its colorful conic roofs made of Spanish fabric. Besides the pavilion’s aesthetic and colorful appearance, the studio designed it addressing to “bioclimatic architecture” adapted to Dubai’s hot desert.

Image © Luis Asín

The pavilion allows maintaining a temperature cooler inside thanks to the cones that facilitate air circulation. This allows a reduced energy consumption.

“It is easy to design an Exhibition Pavilion and for it to turn into a Shopping Center on the outskirts of a large city. In other words, a project without character and subject to the interests of pure commerce,” said Amann-Cánovas-Maruri.

“From this point of view, the difficulty of a project like this consists in not losing the focus that instead of pure representation and above de inevitable spectacle it is possible to offer the visitors a friendly and intelligent place in which to take refuge with dignity.”