The original design behind the Luxembourg pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai  Photo: Metaform Architects

The original design behind the Luxembourg pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai  Photo: Metaform Architects

Expo2020 opens on 1 October in Dubai and Luxembourg is on site with a €32m pavilion. Here are five things to discover at the pavilion. 

Luxembourg’s pavilion will be gifted to the UAE after the world expo, where it will be integrated into a new urban complex. Commissioner general of Luxembourg to the Expo 2020 Dubai Maggy Nagel tells Delano that it was important from the beginning that “visitors are able to discover the whole story of our country” through five senses. Here are a few ways to do just that.

The design

The Möbius ribbon-inspired pavilion, designed by , lends itself to the three-storey, interactive experience inside. The infinite shape symbolises the openness, dynamism and circular economy aspects of the country.

3D rendering of a Mobius strip Photo: Shutterstock

3D rendering of a Mobius strip Photo: Shutterstock

Schueberfouer-inspired slide

Luxembourg’s is the only one of over 190 pavilions to include a slide, which connects the top of the ramp to the ground floor atrium. The slide is a nod to the country’s summer funfair, the Schueberfouer. Both kids and adults are encouraged to use it.

 The Luxembourg pavilion’s slide connects the top of the ramp to the lower green atrium luxembourgexpo2020dubai.lu

 The Luxembourg pavilion’s slide connects the top of the ramp to the lower green atrium luxembourgexpo2020dubai.lu

Scenography

Walking up the ramp, visitors will experience sights and sounds of Luxembourg through the scenography concept created by Stuttgart-based . The experience captures Luxembourg’s diversity, connectivity, sustainability, entrepreneurial spirit and beauty.

Woodsy scent

The open-air, green atrium repurposes water and showcases Luxembourg’s natural beauty--also through the scent. Smell Marketing, specialised in olfactory signatures, created a fragrance reminiscent of the Mullerthal woods, so visitors to the Dubai site can be transported through the scent.

Nod to steel history

Luxembourg’s long history of steelmaking is showcased in the pavilion: integrated into its structure are 170 tonnes of hot-rolled structural steel shapes from ’s Belval and Differdange sites, produced from 100% recycled scrap as raw material.

Belval, pictured above, is one of two locations from where the ArcelorMittal steel for the pavilion was produced Nader Ghavami/archives 

Belval, pictured above, is one of two locations from where the ArcelorMittal steel for the pavilion was produced Nader Ghavami/archives 

 An alternate version of this article appeared in the