toronto-based architecture firm partisans has revealed ?portal?, its proposed design for the canada pavilion at expo 2020 dubai. described as an ?alluring architectural invitation to step inside the canadian identity?, the proposal uses advanced data collection and AI processes to present the country?s diverse population as an interactive cloud that shelters exhibition galleries and shaded semi-public spaces.

 
 
partisans developed the project alongside not-for-profit incubator hxouse, and besix ? one of the world?s largest construction companies. other collaborators include augmenta AI, a global leader in computational modeling based in toronto, and a group of curators including amin alseden, an architectural scholar and practitioner.
 
 
?whereas international expositions have conventionally relied on the trope of the singular architectural object, our canadian pavilion entry reimagines the typology as a porous cloud that shelters exhibition galleries and shaded semi-public spaces,? says partisans. ?it is a 4-dimensional portal to our country and an invitation for the talented youth of the world to come and begin the process of becoming canadian.?

 
 
the design team says that the crystalline dendritic form refers to canada?s multicultural communities, while the porosity denotes the openness of canadian society. ?the resulting cloud-like form describes a land of boundless opportunity, onto which the dreams of its residents are projected real-time digitally,? pa...