Expo 2020: What moves you?

While the official opening of the U.S. pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai -the next World’s Fair- on October 20, 2020 feels far away, Pavilion USA 2020, the partnership responsible for the United States’ National Pavilion, has been making important headway in the design and planning of the landmark building destined to represent more than 325 million Americans.

The initial plans for the building and its experiences were recently released at a ceremony in Dubai. The event featured the unveiling of an architectural model of the U.S. pavilion, designed by world-renowned American architect Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA.

It was also revealed that the global engagement effort will be led by Colorado-based communications firm Human Design, in collaboration with the consortium’s communications partners throughout the U.S. and U.A.E. The “What Moves You” campaign will feature regular pavilion experience reveals, along with engagement and promotion activities with U.S. companies, culture, and technologies.

The pavilion’s curation team will also focus on engaging young people through targeted educational programming, primarily in STEM and STEAM initiatives. Partners such as NYU-Abu Dhabi’s Innovation Lab, TechStars Dubai, and the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute will ensure thoughtful, well-crafted content.

Colorado-based Curtis W. Fentress of Fentress Architects shared his insight in the Pavilion’s design: ‘Today we’re looking at an Expo that is related to mobility, movement, travel, sustainability – things that are very important to the world today. We have designed this building to be circular in form with slants fashioned to project a sensation of movement, making the viewer feel like the building itself is in motion. And then, once you enter the building, it opens up to what the United States stands for: We are an open, accessible country where you can live to create ideas. It showcases all the things we are doing in America: developing technology and concepts that are going to move us forward in the future. Designing this pavilion is a tremendous responsibility -one we take very seriously- as we will be showcasing America and American ideas to over 25 million people expected to visit the Expo’.

Fentress is a top contemporary U.S. architects. He is the founder of Fentress Architects and winner of numerous international awards, including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture. He is internationally known as an innovative, award-winning designer of public architecture including airports, museums, convention centers, laboratories, higher education, civic, and government buildings. Fentress Architects is internationally recognized for the design of Denver International Airport and Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

Exhibit and Experience Design will be created by Michigan-based George P. Johnson Experience Marketing (GPJ), the largest experiential and event marketing agency in the world. Design Management will be provided by Virginia-based Giuliani Associates Architects. Giuliani Associates is an architecture, engineering, and technology firm with experience in the public and private sectors. Pavilion Design Strategy & Monitoring and Evaluation will be supported via consultation by Dr. Jay Wang, Director of the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California (CPD).

Pavilion USA 2020 is a consortium of leading U.S. architecture, experiential, communications, public diplomacy, academic, financial management, and fundraising firms who have come together to fund, design, build, operate, and decommission the U.S. pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. It was selected by the U.S. Department of State to implement the U.S. pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai following a competitive nation-wide request for proposal process. This multi-year public-private partnership will bring the U.S. pavilion to life, a huge undertaking that will require the collaboration of its creative, commercial, and cultural partners from across all the United States and its territories.

For further details about Pavilion USA 2020, visit www.pavilion2020.org. For more information about the U.S. participation in World’s Fairs, including Expo 2020 Dubai, visit www.state.gov/r/expo/. For information on Expo 2020 Dubai visit expo2020dubai.ae.

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