Firms including Foster + Partners and Carlo Ratti Associatti brought some amazing pavilions forward in the Expo 2020 of Dubai. Vincent Callebaut has disclosed his forward-thinking ideas on sustainability now. The project proposed is called the Green Arch that will stand for promoting a green future and for creating a source of coolness for the visitors in Dubai from the harsh sun.
This Green arch is jointly made with Assar Architects and is the official Belgian entry for the expo. It comprises a sheltered area for people who will be walking by. It has more than 2,500 plants, shrubs, and trees on the outside. It also has 3D-printed concrete additions, including seating and planters.
The interior makes up around 4,823 sq m (roughly 51,000 sq ft) and has a restaurant with famous Belgian foods like French fries, waffles, and chocolate. Also, it shows a sustainable Belgian landscape in 2050. In addition, there’s an escalator that emulates a “space-time tunnel,” plus comic strips imagining a green future and discussing ways this vision could be realized. There’s also an immersive video display and other related exhibit areas.
The main structural component of the Green Arch is CLT (cross-laminated timber) and is likened to a bridge by Callebaut. The wooden louvers on the outside have the purpose of shading, while solar panel arrays produce both electricity and hot water.
“Located in the ‘Mobility District,’ the architectural concept of the Belgian pavilion is to offer visitors the largest shaded and naturally ventilated agora in the axis of the prevailing west-east winds of Dubai,” explains Callebaut. “Its programming is placed higher up so that a maximum of the ground floor space is free to use for the public.
This implies that the project will perform the function of ‘bridge-building,’ which will make a major vault with double curvature between its two pillars. This curvaceous vault is made from a universal mathematical minimum surface named ‘hyperbolic paraboloid’. This paraboloid is built-in CLT with more than 5.5 linear km [3.4 miles] of spruce louvers generating a giant wooden Mashrabiya. This prevents the pavilion from solar radiation.
The Green Arch is made to be disassembled with ease as well. The team wants to exhibit it at the Expo and then rebuild it in Belgium.