The 4.38 square kilometers on which 20 October 2020 will be lit by the sparkling lights of the first Universal Exhibition in the Middle East, today they are a construction site crammed with cranes and moving machinery, which animate an immense construction site in full swing around the already well-structured visible of Al Wasl (which in Arabic means 'connection') Plaza, the gigantic dome that will be the true heart of the 2020 Expo in Dubai . It is in this scenario that Italy officially started, with the ceremony of laying the foundation stone, the works of its Pavilion , which is already destined to leave its mark, given that the Emirates have asked to bequeath it to Expo: proposal accepted by Italy, which aims to turn it into a museum.
The request was at the center of an unscheduled bilateral agreement between the vice minister of development Stefano Buffagni and the minister for international cooperation, as well as director of Expo 2020 Dubai, Reem al Hashimi , which was also attended by the general commissioner of Italy for Expo 2020 Paolo Glisenti . "They expressed the pleasure of being able to make this pavilion become permanent. We said that it is something we can work on together because we can make it become the museum of Italian design in Dubai, a nice place to demonstrate our excellence" explained Buffagni, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony in Dubai (also the Italian Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates Nicola Lener) and then at an event at the American University of Dubai to reveal the Pavilion's secrets and theme on which will develop: "Beauty unites people".
"We are sure that the Italian Pavilion, which will celebrate beauty as an element of union between creativity and knowledge, will be greatly appreciated by our millions of visitors, adding interest to what they expect to see at the Expo", emphasized the 'Executive Director of Expo Bureau Najeeb al Ali meeting Buffagni to whom he praised the relations between the two countries and explained how the Emirates are working to get ready for the start of the event that will last six months: the countdown marks 46 weeks and 6 days, and at the moment the organizers ensure they are online, planning to complete all the permanent constructions for the Expo by the end of the year.
The Italian pavilion , designed by Italo Rota, Carlo Ratti, Matteo Gatto and F&M Ingegneria, covers an area of 3,500 square meters , with a height of almost 27 meters , integrates sustainable materials such as orange peels and coffee grounds , and is based on a circular approach to architecture, with the hulls of three boats, painted in the colors of the Italian flag, converted into the roof of the exhibition area. The strategic position, close to those of the Emirates, India, USA and Japan, allows Italy to expect up to "5.5 million visitors", explains Glisenti. But Expo will also have a "positive return" for Italy, both in terms of market knowledge but above all for local companies, which "can make themselves known", assures Buffagni, who guaranteed all the support of the Government for the success of Italian participation .
Dubai 2020: Italy starts work, first stone Pavilion
Leonardo alongside Italy in the great adventure of Expo2020 Dubai which will start on 20 October next year and will continue until April 2021 . The group led by Alessandro Profumo will be the sponsor of the Italian Pavilion where innovation and sustainability will be key issues. "We are proud to participate and contribute to the enhancement of the excellence of our country which is itself a unique mix of creativity and technology", said the number one of Leonardo at the presentation of the sponsorship in the red chalet of the company set up at Dubai airshow , together with the general commissioner for Italy at Expo 2020, Paolo Glisenti, and the Italian ambassador in the United Arab Emirates, Nicola Lener. "At Expo 2020 we want to represent the best of Italy and logically we think we are part of the best of our country in terms of technology and innovation," stressed Profumo, explaining that Leonardo will bring "some of his most important technological innovations "like the unmanned aircraft" but also a part of the space that is extremely iconic ". In fact, the ExoMars2020 mission drill will be on display.
"We will be on that adventure with our drill that will drill two meters deep" the Red Planet, he said . Leonardo's CEO hopes that this collaboration for Expo will also become a means of bringing young people closer to science and technology. "The hope that we will do and that there is a lot of visibility towards young people, we would like to get passionate about these subjects so important for us, for our country", concluded Profumo. Great satisfaction was expressed by the general commissioner Glisenti for Leonardo's collaboration with Italy "given that the effects of the Aerospace and Space Economy, in which Leonardo plays a leading role and has an international competitive position, are an integral part of our project based on sustainability, wellness and safety for all ", he said.
And an average of 28,000 people a day are expected at the Italian Pavilion, for a total of 5 million visits over six months and "there will be 200,000 Italian visitors, according to our estimates", said Glisenti. It will rise in an area of great visibility among the thematic areas of Expo 2020 dedicated to 'Opportunity' and 'Sustainability' and will be located near the pavilions of United Arab Emirates, India, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States. The Pavilion will use architecture for a creative representation of its theme "Beauty unites People". Conceived as an Innovation Hub, it is not only an exhibition pavilion, but also a demonstration, capable of representing Italian expertise in the creation and construction of interior and exterior spaces, was explained during the presentation.
Italy in Dubai, the goal is "to attract investments"
The year that separates us from the beginning of Expo 2020 Dubai is a very important period, in which Italian companies must develop relationships and generate the value that will be transmitted in the six months of universal exposure, during which the main objective of the Italy is attracting investments to innovative companies. This was the thought that emerged during the conference "One year to go: the enterprise system at Expo 2020" held at the Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian companies Ice. During the meeting, the Commissioner for Expo Dubai Italy, Paolo Glisenti, underlined how next year's event is "an opportunity to promote Made in Italy towards those markets that will grow most in the next 10 years, strategic for our exports, and also of attraction of investments towards our innovative small and medium enterprises ", the latter" the most important strategic objective ".
Glisenti explained that "the model of innovation" that Italian companies have to present at Expo Dubai "is the participated one" and that "it is necessary to show how Italian innovation is the result of a formidable integration of different territorial skills and dimensions ". During the morning the main features of the Italian Pavilion were presented, with which" we will try to bring, in its events but also in the physical structure, the Italian holistic model of 'value proposition' of the Italian company ". At the event "we have to go for a relational, non-expositive marketing operation, representative of this model". For Glisenti, "this is the heart of Expo", focusing on the relationship, on "narrative and experiential elements", because the 80% of the public "will be from millennials between the ages of 25 and 40", which impose a language that is representative of Italian competence and creativity totally different "than before.
Expo 2020 Dubai will be "a world showcase for our country, where companies will be able to show the best of their ideas inspired by the theme" 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future' (linking minds, creating the future), explained the undersecretary to Foreigners Manlio Di Stefano. "Our business system sees in the year that accompanies us at Expo 2020 a step of greater strengthening of relations" and "an opportunity to forge ties that can create great opportunities", he underlined, recalling that the universal exhibition of next year will be "the most global in history" and "the first in a Middle Eastern country". The undersecretary then wanted to highlight the need to “match the word quality, which has always distinguished us, with those of innovative and sustainable, which is what the market asks for.
Our Expo pavilion includes these three words "and is" a symbol of sustainability ". The president of the ICE agency, Carlo Ferro, explained that the collaboration between the Italian System and the ICE for Expo 2020 Dubai" has the aim to strengthen the image of Italy and its entrepreneurial system for the entire territory "and to" provide support to businesses so that the event is a bridge for commercial penetration in the region of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia ". Ferro recalled that with the United Arab Emirates there is a relationship of particular importance, with "5.7 billion euros of exchanges" in which Italy "is the tenth supplier of the country, the third of the EU". "Stability, prosperity and joint action have brought the Emirates to where they are now, and this was possible thanks to valid partners including Italy," said Ali Khalifa Al Nuaimi, head of the embassy's economic office of the United Arab Emirates in Rome. "It is an honor ric take the baton from Milan ", and" less than a year after the opening day of Expo 2020, we look forward to that moment, which will have consequences for the entire region ".
The Italian pavilion presented in Matera
Italy and its territories begin the decisive trait of their approach to the Dubai Universal Exposition that will be inaugurated exactly in a year, on October 20, 2020. The pavilion of our country at Expo 2020 Dubai was presented by the architects and project designer at the Cava del Sole in Matera, the European Capital of Culture 2019. "Italy brings an Innovation Hub to the Expo 2020, a pavilion with an innovative structure, inspired by the most advanced elements of sustainability and circular economy, which do not it will simply be an exhibition place, but a demonstration of Italian competence and the best national talent and talent, "explained Paolo Glisenti, General Commissioner of Section for Italy for Expo 2020 Dubai.
The event was also attended by Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The participation of Italy dedicated to the theme "Beauty unites people" ("Beauty connects people") - a press release underlines - will represent a unique opportunity to promote the Country System. In fact, Italy will also make its presence a lever of cultural, economic and scientific diplomacy towards the United Arab Emirates and the entire "MENASA" area (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) through a path that sees numerous partners as protagonists national and the main stakeholders of the academic world, research, culture and art, cultural and creative industries, sport, media, music, as well as with large and medium public and private entrepreneurial realities.
The Italian Pavilion, located a short distance from that of the UAE on the 'cultural spine' of the Expo site, will offer a memorable immersive experience to the more than 5 million visitors expected: it covers an area of 3,500 square meters and rises to almost 27 meters high, is based on a circular approach to architecture, with the hulls of three boats converted into the roof of the exhibition area for the duration of the Expo. The project aims to integrate sustainable materials - such as orange peels, coffee grounds, mushrooms and recycled plastic also collected in the Ocean - which are used in an innovative way as construction elements. In Matera, more than 200 students representing schools throughout the country participated in the initiative. The boys were engaged in the Lucan city in a 'project marathon' on the goals of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.
