Dubai, United Arab Emirates
“Just as a real cloud is made up of a series of droplets, our cloud structure comprises a myriad of disparate yet similar elements,” states Liam Proberts, Managing and Creative Director of bureau^proberts.
“Together, they signify the way in which Australia is home to multiple cultures that unify and enhance our nation.”
Liam Proberts and his team at bureau^proberts chose to represent the cloud canopy as a tectonic form for Australia’s Pavilion at Expo 2020, dubbing the pavilion “Blue Sky Dreaming.”
At 21-metres-tall and 3552-square-meters, the pavilion is also one of the largest at the event, welcoming visitors to its forecourt with a large social space that translates Australia’s distinctive landscape and skies.
A natural phenomenon mobile across all Australian landscapes and “indeed evident across the world”, the cumulus cloud is a representation of our country’s welcoming and multicultural nature.
“The cumulus cloud is agile and ever changing and is a sign of clear weather and expansiveness,” Queensland-based practice bureau^proberts.
“As an architectural form in Dubai, it creates a canopy for shade and gathering, welcoming all visitors from all nations to our place.”
The aluminium blades on the building’s exterior are arranged at different heights to create an abstraction of the cloud as a large, strong and beautiful shape, which appears from below as a “single billowing form.”
During the evening, the cloud-like structure will light up in a dynamic display that reflects Australia’s thunderous skies.
“The ever-changing sky and light quality bring a shifting play of light and shadow reflected across the form,” explains bureau^proberts.
“As a cohesive form derived from many individual parts, the cloud symbolizes the strength we draw from a society that is socially, culturally and intellectually mobile.”
Folding timber structures positioned beneath bureau^proberts’ cloud-like form house eateries serving, among other things, kangaroo, prawns, and myrtle figs, alongside a concert area and five-a-side football pitch, which will host free events, activities and competitions.
Internally, the building celebrates Australia’s spirit of innovation and its history as one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, highlighting the nation’s infinite opportunities.
Three distinct spaces “relay the story of Australia’s vibrant and long-lived culture” beginning with Welcome Stories – a neon-colored tunnel covered in a mural by Ballarat-based Yorta Yorta/ Gunditjmara multimedia artist Josh Muir.
Visitors are then guided into the Star Dreaming gallery – a planetarium-style experience that highlights Indigenous Australians’ role as the oldest astronomers in the world.
The final space is a wall-to-wall immersive storytelling exhibition that tells the tale of a young girl’s journey through Australia.
Keeping in mind the sustainability aspect of the pavilion, bureau^proberts used “familiar, reusable and readily available products” to limit waste and unnecessary manufacturing.
Australian-made cross laminated timber (CLT) was used throughout the space since it can be sustainably sourced and dismantled once the expo ends.
Smart water-saving technologies will also enable real-time tracking of water usage throughout the building.
Project: Australia Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020
Architects: bureau^proberts
Client: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade
