The Czech Republic took over the land for the construction of a pavilion at the Expo in Dubai

Prague - The Czech Republic on Wednesday took over the land for the construction of the national pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai. The two-story building will be created according to the design of the Czech architectural studio Formosa AA. Visitors will see an exhibition mainly presenting Czech scientific discoveries and innovations. CTK was informed about this today by Lenka Maršálková from the Office of the General Commissioner of the Czech Republic's participation at Expo 2020.

The pavilion itself is expected to be a striking exhibit. "The impressive twelve-meter organic structure enveloping the building is exceptional architecturally and structurally – no one has ever built such a large self-supporting object from fiberglass capillaries," said Jiří František Potužník, the general commissioner of the Czech participation. The pavilion will be located at the entrance gate to the area named Sustainability.

The Formosa AA company consists of PhD students from the Faculty of Architecture at CTU. The pavilion will be constructed by an international consortium of companies including MIC Prague, iBridge STH, and Lamirada. Workers have already begun with the terrain preparations. The complete pavilion is to be handed over to the Czech Republic for use by the end of this year.

In January 2020, the S.A.W.E.R. system, which generates water from air using solar energy and cultivates the desert through subsurface crops, is expected to be installed in the pavilion. The system is being developed by scientists from the Czech Academy of Sciences and CTU. It also includes a method for cultivating a desert into a green oasis using algae without chemical fertilizers. Organizers plan to build this part directly on site.

The Czech Republic will pay 85 million crowns for the rental of the pavilion and will return it to the builders after the exhibition ends. The total budget for the Czech participation in the exhibition is expected to be around 280 million crowns.

The World Expo will take place in Dubai from October 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021. Organizers expect that it will be visited by 25 million people, of which about three-quarters will be from abroad.