UAE Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 wins best exterior design award NMC bags Honorable Mention 1st add

Since the first Great Fair of 1851 World Expos have developed into one of the largest and most enduring global events.

Organised by Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and lasting six months World Expos attract millions of visitors who explore and discover pavilions exhibits and cultural events staged by hundreds of participants including states international organisations and corporations. Most participants build their own pavilions on sites provided by the host country.

The UAE has made a strong mark at each Expo in which it has participated. It was among the top ten pavilions at EXPO 2000 in Hannover. It was awarded a gold medal at EXPO Zaragoza 2008 won a popular vote among the general public at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 (and topped an academic study conducted by staff from UCLA who looked at public diplomacy criteria); and received a silver medal at the International Expo in Yeosu in 2012.

For Expo Milano 2015 the UAE's National Media Council assembled a world-class team to deliver an unforgettable pavilion experience not only producing a building design that wows visitors but also satisfies the requirement for our pavilion to be demountable and re-built in the UAE. Architects Foster + Partners took their inspiration from the evocative landscape and sustainable traditional architecture of the UAE. This sustainability ethos is also reflected in Masdar City the UAE s future energy complex and it is in Masdar s sinuous narrow streets and fluid open spaces intended as self-shaded pedestrian routes in a car-free city that the UAE Pavilion will finally come to rest when Expo 2015 closes.

The building creates excitement and anticipation but what really matters is what is inside - a seamless holistic and enchanting encounter with the UAE and its people.

Every World Expo has a theme that must be of central concern to all humanity . For Expo Milano 2015 this is: Feeding the Planet Energy for Life .

The UAE s story embraces the Expo 2015 theme of food nutrition and sustainability in all its exciting and challenging facets using our own experiences of living in a dynamic country with a rapidly increasing population a shortage of arable land and where water is now more important than oil. It explores the interplay between land energy and water in producing sufficient safe food as well as age-old traditional Emirati values of sustainability and sharing that are motivating our search for innovative solutions.

Expo Milano 2015 is the Universal Exhibition that Milan Italy is hosting from May 1 to October 31 2015. Over this six-month period Milan becomes a global showcase where more than 150 participating countries show the best of their technology that offers a concrete answer to a vital need: being able to guarantee healthy safe and sufficient food for everyone while respecting the Planet and its equilibrium. In addition to the exhibitor nations the Expo also involves international organisations and expects to welcome over 20 million visitors to its 1.1 million square meters of exhibition area.

A platform for the exchange of ideas and shared solutions on the theme of food stimulating each country s creativity and promoting innovation for a sustainable future Expo 2015 gives everyone the opportunity to find out about and taste the world s best dishes while discovering the best of the agri-food and gastronomic traditions of each of the exhibitor countries.

WAM/tfaham WAM 2134 2015/10/23 END