There’s a ripple effect in everything we do. Even one person can be the key to unlocking eight billion opportunities that can help individuals and communities create a better tomorrow, today. It’s time to unleash the potential within and be an agent of change.
Architecture of opportunity
The Opportunity Pavilion, designed by AGi Architects, builds on the rich urban history of the “plaza” and its universal significance as a place for people to connect across age, language and culture, to celebrate our shared human experiences.
Building connections through design. This striking pavilion consists of a low-slung, earth-toned brick façade topped with a dozen translucent mesh and metal structures that resemble boxy clouds carefully balanced on one another. It builds on the rich urban history of the plaza and its universal significance as a place for people to connect.
The flying piano
A metaphor of ‘music in flight’, a grand piano and glamourous pianist are raised in the air and appear to be flying in the sky. With a huge, illuminated skirt cascading down, spectators are captivated both visually and aurally by the sites and sounds above them.
Mission Possible - The Opportunity PavilionExpo 2020 Dubai
The upside down garden
The garden of pledges is an upside down garden where visitors walk into the clouds and look up at the garden (or earth) above them. The space is meant to be a reflective space for visitors after their journey in the Opportunity Pavilion.
Visitors can choose to take a pledge which will float in the rivers between the gardens or can sit on the pebble chairs to experience the room. Most visitors find this to be a very relaxing spot and often spend more than five minutes.
Further, the room has a night and day mode and visitors can walk into different seasons. At some point, visitors can hear the rain and thunder while they are in the room.
Hammour House in Opportunity DistrictExpo 2020 Dubai
Hammour house
Embodying Expo 202 Dubai’s Spirit of community, the Hammour Fish is part of a larger conservation project by Australian artist Sue Ryan.
The sculpture is one of the three artworks presented by Hammour House, and is a result of Sue’s visit to the UAE, where she visited marine protected areas in order to immerse in nature.
As well as her meetings with the fisherman community who inspired her with their vast history, knowledge and tales of the sea.
The sculpture is made from washed up fishing nets retrieved by Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers and conversation organisations from coastlines and remote indigenous communities fringing the Gulf of Carpentaria on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland.
Hammour House in Opportunity District by Sue RyanExpo 2020 Dubai
The nets are commonly referred to as ghost nets – fishing nets lost or abandoned at sea and left to drift, continuing to trap fish and turtles and creating navigational hazards before finally smothering coral reefs and beaches.
Incorporated around a frame of bamboo and wire the nets and rope weaves together to create a larger than life Hammour, a species of grouper that is valued by Emirates and Khaleejis.
Ryan collaborates with Indigenous communities, conservation groups, fishermen and artists to create a dialogue with the viewer communicating the consequences of poor fishing practices while reminding us the beauty of the ocean and its creatures.
