Bulgarian Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai

The Expo 2020 Dubai theme: “Connecting minds, creating the future” is a formula for innovation and progress that includes 3 main areas: Opportunity, Mobility, Sustainability. The master plan is developed to create attractive environment that brings the theme and the subthemes of the event creating a vision that embraces and reinforces the experience.

Some halls in the pavilion are dedicated to technology, that is applicable in Bulgaria as well due to our mountains, sea front and numerous water basins. A of the promising technologies with a major role in the project is ocean spraying. The whole pavilion is surrounded by sprinklers that spray water (imitating the actual technology) up to 5-8m which forms a water barrier around. When someone approaches the sprinklers are disconnected and a small entry and the visitor can pass through. The constant flow of people makes the water façade dance in tune with the passage of people and this makes it all that interactive and ever transforming. Using salt as building material is a technology developed by professors at TU Delft. It uses ocean water to extract the salt and mix it with starch, water and other compounds. The mix becomes as durable as masonry and can be 3D printed. The only disadvantage is that it is not water resistant and, in that case, it is going to be surrounded by water and it will be dissolved. This can be overcome by building 2-3 times thicker walls and water will constantly wash out parts of the façade and by the end of the event the walls are going to self-destruct. This will save a lot of the cost related with the labour of demolishing the pavilion. Holograms are displayed In a big aquarium in a round hall. They are focused on landscaping in the ocean - transforms waste of the ships into islands of seaweed which absorbs CO2 just like trees do. The Membrane The Breath by Urban vision is an exceptional material that absorbs the air pollutants. This membrane is antibacterial, translucent, self-cleaning, water resistant and it can clean the pollution of thousands of gasoline and diesel engines. This membrane is part of the façade which allows natural light and fresh air to infiltrate in the pavilion. All the exterior walls are lifted off ground and this allows fresh air inside and it will be released through the roof openings. These openings are strategically placed above the tall vegetation in the last hall which represents the nature (primarily the lavender fields) of Bulgaria and the food prepared with organic produce.