ADDITIONAL FIRMS: Mart Pro, Ho Pro, Spectacular Events Management DMCC
PHOTOS: Kestutis Vanagas, Lithuania Pavilion
The Lithuania Pavilion, dubbed the Openarium, presents the country as one that is focused on creativity, sustainability, business, community, and modernization — as well as a representation of the ideal microclimate for a growing and sustainable society.
The pavilion greets visitors with a wooden façade decorated with widely opened Lithuanian-style shutters. It is an extroverted structure that communicates with visitors via the help of its living exterior. The style and identity of Lithuania is subtly revealed through ethnographic motifs, as the opened shutters and wooden entrance portal symbolize availability, openness, and a lack of limitations.
The visual language of the pavilion is laconic, a simple volumetric solution that creates different spatial scenarios. For example, the exterior design emphasizes the open-air terrace covered with timber and inviting exploration. Despite the modern and sustainable approach, the design emphasizes the continuity and importance of Lithuanian timber architecture and building traditions, but in a contemporary context. The main exhibition space is on the ground floor, and the visitor experience is organized along a continuous path, the end of which allows guests to truly enjoy the flavors of Lithuania by visiting the restaurant or souvenir shop. Additional exhibit space on the first floor features rotating exhibitions amid an open design that allows visitors to flow through in an organized, continuous path.
Technology is at the heart of the pavilion, from lasers and solar panels to DNA data storage and CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing. Even a food printer is on display to delight guests with a taste of the country’s impressive innovations.
