Dubai: German-Swiss consortium to build Expo 2020 German Pavilion

A consortium comprising Cologne-based agency, facts and fiction, and Swiss construction company, Adunic, has won the bid to design and build the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

While facts and fiction will be responsible for content, exhibition, and media design, building the pavilion will be Adunic’s job, while the architecture will be designed by Berlin firm Lava.

“We’re delighted to have won the German Pavilion contest,” said Dietmar Jähn, managing director at facts and fiction, commenting on the selection committee’s decision. “It’s a dream come true and a great honour for us to have our concept chosen to represent Germany at the Expo in Dubai.”

An EU-wide notice of tender was published back in September 2017, inviting teams to apply to design the concept and to plan and build the interior and exterior of the German Pavilion for Expo 2020. The brief also included the technical management of the pavilion during the Expo from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021 and the dismantling of the pavilion after the event. Initially, applicants were asked to draw up a high-level concept.

This was followed by a second phase, in which a 17-member selection committee (made up of representatives of various federal ministries, trade/industry associations, and experts on Expo and regional matters) chose five interdisciplinary teams to put through to the next phase – the design of a detailed concept for the German Pavilion.

“The awarding of the contract to facts and fiction and Adunic marks the end of a 10-month process. We are happy that things can now progress and building work can start on our plot in Dubai next year,” said Dietmar Schmitz from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

facts and fiction and Adunic were selected on the basis of the tender criteria. The main requirement was to take the Expo theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and the sustainability subtheme chosen by Germany and translate them into a pavilion concept that will grasp visitors’ interest and hold it from start to finish while also creating a seamless marriage between the pavilion’s architecture and its content.

Koelnmesse is the company that will be organising and running the German Pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.