Celebrated British architect and designer-Asif Khan has recently unveiled the photographs for the three 21-meters-high entry gateways designed by his architectural firm for the World Expo 2020 Dubai. The architect used a new kind of carbon fibre technology to create those doors that are the adaptations of the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya- an intricate lattice structure used across the region to manage light and airflow. Despite their mammoth size, these spellbinding doors can be opened by just one person. The gateways are set to welcome visitors from all over the world to the grand event that will take place in Dubai from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021. SURFACES REPORTER (SR) presents here more info about the striking entry portals designed by Asif Khan:
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Conceptualizing and designing such surrealistic doors to greet the guests at the World Expo 2020 can be expected from Asif Khan, who has already astonished us through his outstanding works. He is the mastermind behind creating the darkest building in the world and a pavilion- MegaFaces which features a kinetic facade in which 11,000 full-colour LEDs were recreating the building's front exterior.
Carbon Fibre Entwined Into Fine Strands
The architect spun high-grade carbon fibre and resin into fine yet sturdy strands that could retain the structural strength to support a four-wheel-drive vehicle (should the need arise).
Inspired by the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya, an architectural element used in Islamic design incorporates latticed screens, often presenting intricate geometric patterns to shade balconies and exterior windows.
Asif Khan founded his eponymous architectural firm in 2007, took a usual mashrabiya and folded it to design the long and scalable gateway. "I wanted to create a mashrabiya like no other, for it to be impossibly thin and impossibly light, like a drawing in the sky, and at such a scale that it could become an architecture in itself," said Khan. "There was only one material that is capable of producing this effect, and that is carbon fibre," he further added.
The Expo Entry Portals has two 10.5-metre-wide doors at the end that open to a tree-filled courtyard. The doors can be placed in different positions. When the crowd is less, they can be opened a little. While for any big celebrations, they can be flung wide open.
They consist of a structure that is at once a combination of 2-D planes along with a 3-D geometric configuration- resembling the logo of the Expo 2020 when viewed from the right angle.
Transcendental Play on light, Shadow and Space
The three stark and striking gateways he created will allow visitors to walk more than six kms through the latticed canopy to enter the expansive event site. The perception-shifting entryways will create different and unique experiences depending on the time you enter, amazingly playing with innumerable shadows and light.
The transcendental play of lights, shadow, and space expresses to people that the Expo world is entirely different from that outside.
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The architect explained the Expo Entry Portals as his best work yet. "The portals are the first thing you see as you approach the site, so they are a landmark at the beginning and end of your journey at Expo 2020. I would like visitors to Expo, especially children, to be inspired by the architecture they have never seen before and be excited that it is part of the heritage of the region. Passing through the doors represents a physical and symbolic act of moving from the past into the future," he said.
The 173-day long event with 60 daily shows anticipates to receive 25 million visitors and 70% from outside the UAE. The Expo aims to bring together millions of people to celebrate art, music, culture, architecture, technology, and human brilliance and achievements under the theme, 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future'. The event will showcase work from architects and designs from across the globe.
Image Courtesy: www.asif-khan.com
Info Courtesy: www.asif-khan.com | www.expo2020dubai.com
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