Arab News Japan

DUBAI: Expo 2020 Dubai awarded Japan with the gold category for its Exhibition Design, within Category A, which are pavilions larger than 2500m2.

The expo hosted an official awards ceremony on March 30 to recognize some of the best pavilions, one day before the event is set to celebrate its final day. Pakistan’s pavilion won silver, while bronze went to Spain for the same category.

#Expo2020 Dubai Official Participant Awards – Exhibition Design
Self-built pavilions – Category A (larger than 2,500m2)
🥇 Japan
🥈 Pakistan
🥉 Spain pic.twitter.com/zuzE9R8ZFP

— BIE (@bieparis) March 30, 2022

The Japan Pavilion was designed by Japanese architect Yuko Nagayama, who was very much inspired by the Expo’s theme of connectivity. She explored the similarities between Middle Eastern and Japanese geometric patterns through the incorporation of arabesque and asanoha kumiko patterns into the pavilion’s architecture.

The Official Participant Awards were decided by an international jury, made up of nine experts from relevant fields. The jury visited every international pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai in January and March before coming to their final decisions of who the winners will be.

The awards were split into five categories according to the size and type of each pavilion and they recognize: the Architecture and landscape (for self-built pavilions); exhibition design; and theme interpretation.

51 awards were handed out during the ceremony.

Other winners included Saudi Arabia winning gold for its architecture and landscape and Germany also won gold for its thematic interpretation.