Expo 2020 Dubai

This will be the first Expo to be held in the Middle East and might be one of the most important in exposition history.

BY DOUGLAS WEINSTEIN

The French Industrial Exposition of 1844, held in a temporary structure on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and designed to encourage improvements in progressive agriculture and in technology, lasted 60 days and had over 3,900 exhibitors.

The king of France, Louis Philippe I, opened the exposition and would attend every Monday to further examine particular exhibits that he found of interest. Over the years the character of world fairs evolved from the concept of industrialization, into expositions focused on cultural exchanges, and finally becoming a platform where each country exhibiting would create their own unique display to burnish their national image and promote tourism.

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first Expo to be held in the Middle East and might be remembered years from now as one of the most important in exposition history. Besides being the largest event ever staged in the Arab world, with 190 participating countries and millions of visitors from around the globe, this Expo will be celebrating culture, collaboration and innovation – with an emphasis on sustainability and how we can work together to build a better world.

Of particular interest is the over-arching three-part message Expo 2020 Dubai is centered upon – opportunity, mobility and sustainability. Which translates into unlocking the potential of all workers, creating smarter movement of knowledge, ideas and goods, and living in balance with the world around us.

The subtheme of sustainability is crystalized on the Expo 2020 Dubai website as: The need to live in balance with the world we inhabit has never been more critical. Expo 2020 is embracing alternative sources of food, water, and clean and renewable energy, and encouraging us all to reassess how we can preserve the planet.

These concepts of sustainability, clean air and renewable energy are at the very core of our mission at TD. Considering the enormous amount of energy and material waste represented by the building of our homes and offices, it is endemic on each of the design-build trades to respect and understand his/her role in the food chain.

Smarter design leads to less waste in the build-out. Cutting edge technologies and materials that are sustainable in nature should be considered at every junction. Managing energy consumption in today’s smart homes – with tons of gadgets plugged in and sucking energy even in stand-by mode – needs to be addressed as part of our responsibility as technology providers.

Working together in teams to streamline processes and fulfill client expectations has to become the new normal if the design-build community wants to play a major role in conservation – especially as the work done at the individual building level, or single-family residence, most certainly impacts city-wide and global perspectives and initiatives.

Expo 2020 Dubai. I’m looking forward to visiting next fall and taking a good look at the world of tomorrow.


December 2019 News