Finland’s national pavilion at the first World Expo in the Middle East
Client: 2021–2022
Finland was one of 192 nations at Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo in the Middle East. Its “Snow Cape” pavilion drew over a million visitors around the exhibition theme “Sharing Future Happiness”.
Design scope
Lighting design · Audio design · Video & rigging design · Video content production · Technical supervision
Design objectives
Tell the story of Finnish happiness inside the “Snow Cape” pavilion, a million times over.
The exhibition was built around the pavilion’s main theme, “Sharing Future Happiness”, with sub-themes of circular economy, sustainability and innovation. Sun Effects worked as part of the “Symbiosis” design group – with Futudesign, Flatlight Creative House and the pavilion architects JKMM Architects – on the overall concept.
Sun Effects design concept
One audiovisual story running through the whole space, with light, sound and image moving together.
Sun Effects designed and produced the pavilion’s lighting, audio and video, and supervised the technical build. Large-scale video surfaces spanning the whole space, spatial multi-channel audio and integrated reactive lighting worked as one, built around a monumental central video display that presented Finland’s themes – nature, technology and trust – in an accessible way.
Client Business Finland Country United Arab Emirates Attendees 1,100,000+ Venue Expo 2020 Dubai Venue Area 700 m² (7,535 ft²)
Photo credits: Archmospheres & Business Finland