Fentress Architects, a global design firm, has been selected to design the US Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai as a consortium partner with Big Things Group, a world leader in building, funding and operating major expositions and public diplomacy events.

The proposed project builds on Fentress’ experience in the region where it served as the architect for the “Dancing Sisters” mixed-use towers that opened in 2012.

The third-largest global event after the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup, Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to draw over 25 million visitors from October 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021. The Expo’s overarching theme is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” with sub-themes focusing on Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability.

Pavilion USA 2020’s winning design plans were based on the theme “What Moves You” and will feature highlights of American culture, leading technological revolutions in mobility, and much more.

Fentress said its design for the USA Pavilion will create a powerful metaphor for the dynamism of American culture and values of ingenuity, progress, and innovation. The team behind the new concept is a consortium of top individuals and agencies who will work together to make the pavilion a showcase of the innovation, creativity and diversity that defines the US, it stated.

On the contract win, Curtis Fentress, principal in charge of design, said: “Working across the US has given the company a diverse perspective on the attributes and attitudes that Americans share. We will coalesce these characteristics into a single architectural expression at Expo 2020 Dubai, representing the entirety of the US and its design prowess to an international audience.”