From 6th – 9th of April, during Russia Creates Forum in Dubai, which goal is to unite the brightest and the most talented representatives of the Russian creative industry, the pavilion of Russia for the first time was presented for upcoming Expo-2020, which will begin in Dubai in the fall of 2021, and was postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the covid pandemic.
EXPO 2020 will take place in Dubai under the slogan ‘Connecting minds, creating the future’. The exhibition territory will be divided into three thematic districts: Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability.
Situated in the Mobility district, the Russia Pavilion develops precisely this theme. In embodying the image of the national pavilion, Sergei Tchoban, the architect of the project, set out to convey in the building’s compositional design the idea of constant movement as the prerequisite for unstoppable progressive development, creation, and progress. The pavilion is in the form of two hemispheres, one inside the other. The two hemispheres are domes embodying the image of Planet Russia and symbolizing wholeness and universality (Rendering 1).
‘With our project,’ says Sergei Tchoban, the project’s author, ‘we set out to tackle several very important objectives. First, to propose a spectacular volume whose architecture would express the theme of this section of the exhibition and simultaneously contain associations with Russia as a great country. One such association is the way the small domed volume sits inside the larger: this may be modern and emphatically dynamic, but it also resembles the traditional Russian matryoshka. Secondly, we wanted to give visitors the most comfortable possible conditions not just when viewing the exhibition but also when waiting to do so. The space under the lower dome serves as a convenient and capacious ante-area; it is well protected from the scorching sun and the heat and is packed with a variety of public functions.’
The building’s façades are made from a multiplicity of intertwined thread-like pipes of different colours that express the ideas of movement, development of meanings and knowledge, orientation on the future, and a theme which is very important for the modern world: the harmonious co-existence of energies and phenomena of very diverse kinds. The motif of lines of different colours outlining the building’s shape is intended, says Sergei Tchoban, to refer to the tradition of the Russian Avant-garde and the ‘exprimatic’ method – the use of a free treatment of line to generate new forms – invented by the brilliant Constructivist architect Yakov Chernikhov.
With a total floor area of more than 3600 square metres, the pavilion has three main storeys and two mezzanine levels. This has made it possible to organize inside it all the functions required: exhibition spaces, cafés and restaurants, and spaces for business meetings. The compositional idea of two domes placed one inside the other makes it possible to satisfy the main climatic requirement for such a building in the UAE: the complex must have a comfortable and shaded waiting area. Abutting this are a space for temporary exhibitions, a restaurant, a souvenir shop, and a multi-height hall with escalators and lifts leading to the main exhibition level. The larger of the two domes forms an exhibition space with an attached VIP room, a conference centre (equipped with viewing terraces), and meeting rooms that provide ideal conditions for doing business over the entire course of the exhibition. The pavilion is surrounded by a decorative pool of water which will both help maintain a comfortable microclimate around the building and serve as a gigantic mirror reflecting the Russian Pavilion.
Other representatives of the Russian creative industry at Russia Creates also impressed the guests and the press with their projects. Architect Andrey Asadov, presented the cities of the future, or cities of inspiration, which correspond to 10 basic principles: 1 – multi-functionality, self-sufficiency, 2 – organic geometry, 3 – energy independence, 4 – shaped beginning, 5 – intermediate spaces, 6 – healthy effect, 7 — integration into the landscape, 8 — climate regulation, 9 — expansion on the water, 10 — expansion in the air.
Now it is possible to control the climate using a patented engineering technology on the scale of a small town! The whole territory city- resort covered by light translucent shell, including both coast and part of the water surface (Rendering 2,3). This format allows you to maintain a comfortable temperature regime even in areas with extreme climates.
Mastering the water element pushes the boundaries of architecture and opens up new horizons for it. In a series of artificial island projects, Andrey Asadov explored the possibilities of spectacular yet effective expansion in coastal waters. Bigger expansion in surface area created by architect – it is 5 Olympic rings on a light pile foundation, similar to oil rigs constructions (Rendering 4). In the center of each of the rings is an residential tower, symbolizing one of the five continents. The inner space of the ring is a multi-lumen atrium with a translucent shell. Now it has become possible, using the same technology, to reconstruct unused oil rigs platforms to beautiful islands.
And who said that architecture is tied to the ground and is not able to soar into the air? It was the task that Andrey Asadov set for himself, the result of which became the aerohotels. The architecture ceases to be static and tied to one place. Create a network of travel hotels plying between berthing stations worldwide. Mooring stations can be located not only on land, but also in water space (Rendering 5). Mooring stations consists of a ring hotel around the perimeter and a gridded park structure in the middle.
The possibilities of architecture and representatives of Russian creativity are truly endless!