Hopkins Architects has planned the largest built-up area of Expo 2020: the 'Thematic Districts' comprising 87 permanent buildings distributed over three 'petals', dedicated to the three themes of Mobility, Opportunity and Sustainability. Designed according to the principle of a modern reinterpretation of the traditional Islamic city, each of the petals is a unique universe to be discovered, in which tree-lined streets and courtyards with vegetation and pools of water accompany visitors to the pavilions. Under the hot desert sun, the shading structures are essential: inspired by the shape of the date palm, thin at the base and wide at the roof, they rise up to 16 metres to create an interconnected canopy from which evocative plays of light and shadow filter through.

Overlooking the rice fields of Noakhali in Bangladesh, 'Matter. Space. Soul' is a bamboo and wood pavilion initially intended by the client as an extension of his restaurant, where customers could relieve urban stress in a peaceful natural setting. Due to the climatic specificities of the area, which is strongly affected by monsoon rains, the decision was made to create a flexible space with temporary furniture to allow an informal break in contemplation of the landscape. Removable bamboo screens were introduced to ensure privacy for visitors.

Located in the botanical garden of the University of Freiburg, the livMatS Pavilion is an innovative experiment in the direction of an ever more concrete commitment to environmental sustainability. It is in fact the first building with a supporting structure made entirely of robotically wound flax fibre, a completely biodegradable material available in Central Europe. The characteristic and intricate appearance of the linen structural elements evokes zoomorphic suggestions, between technology and ecology.

Xianmo Flower Field is an urban park with vast areas for seasonal blooms: a lovely place but little used due to the absence of shaded areas. In order to attract a greater influx of visitors, reception services have been enhanced, including the installation of bamboo parking pavilions with aerodynamic shapes, made possible thanks to the high-performance tensile and flexural properties of the material, which easily lends itself to the formation of three-dimensional shapes.

As part of the 'Pavilion Tokyo 2021' initiative, Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has designed the 'Kokage-gumo' pavilion, a temporary structure conceived to breathe new life into the garden of an abandoned 1927 villa in Chiyoda-ku and to offer visitors a pleasant, shady space to rest. The work features a canopy made of charred wood according to the traditional 'yakisugi' technique of preserving the material by lightly charring the surface of the cedar wood. The rough, dark construction stretches across the garden, gently enveloping the existing trees as if it had always been part of this magical and mysterious place.

In the dramatic mountain karst landscape of Yangshuo County in the Guangxi region of southern China, the architectural firm lllab has designed a light pavilion for an open-air theatre performance. The ethereal bamboo structure with its soft and enveloping shapes, from which animated chiaroscuro plays filter, seems itself to 'dance' suspended amidst the rich vegetation of the site.

Amidst the vast green expanses of Montana, inside the Tippet Rise Art Centre, Kéré Architecture has "imported" a bit of its Africa: a pavilion that emerges in a clearing surrounded by aspen trees, facing a small stream, carved from raw pine logs from a sustainable pruning process. The logs of the canopy are grouped in circular bundles within modular hexagonal steel beam and column structures. The roof, at once massive and light, is inspired by the "tuguna", the sacred gathering space of many small Burkinabè communities: a low shelter made of wood and straw that offers ventilation and protection from the sun.

The Vietnamese studio Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN) defines bamboo as "the green steel of the 21st century": and it is precisely with this material that they design flexible structures that can be easily duplicated and transported anywhere. Bamboo Stalactite is an installation for the Venice Biennale 2018 located on the waterfront: the pavilion comprises 11 modules, each of which is formed by the combination of 2 hyperbolic shell structures that offer a shaded space for anyone seeking relief from the heat.

Continuing its research on bamboo, one of the fundamental materials in Vietnamese architectural tradition and already experimented in Venice, VTN Architects creates an eye-catching and iconic space for a bar-club on the roof of a modern building with no particular qualities in Vinh, in the north of the country. The structure of self-supporting domes and vaults that shape the Nocenco Café houses a vibrant textured environment with varied geometries, from which there is a pleasant view of the cityscape.

A small wooden pavilion on the campus of Kyoto University of Art and Design, set against a steep hillside covered with lush vegetation, offers visitors a pleasant shaded space for contemplating the view amidst plum forests. A light, sloping roof resting on slender pillars protects the sequence of handcrafted, mushroom-shaped stools - grouped at the base of the pillars, in the corners and in the cracks of the stone walls and stairs - evoking, rather than furniture, natural elements sprouting spontaneously from the ground.

The work is conceived as an immense "parasol", a perforated umbrella to provide shelter from the sun for visitors to Plaza de la Encarnación, originally the site of the city's largest market, which was then suppressed and recently returned to "new life" thanks to an effective urban riqualification project. The project is developed on five levels and accommodates different functions: on the basement level a platform allows views of archaeological remains; the second level houses a market space; the third level a plaza for performances and shows; the fourth level a restaurant and the fifth a terrace overlooking the old quarters of Seville. The mega-structure of wooden lattices providing shade to the square, about 150 metres long, 75 metres deep and 28 metres high, is a marvel of structural engineering designed by the Arup company  and described by the German architect as 'a cathedral without walls'.

Commissioned by the wealthy businessman and intellectual Eusebi Güell, impressed by the phenomenon of garden cities of Anglo-Saxon origin, the park is the only built work of a larger urban plan to create a green suburb on the hills outside Barcelona. The park, studded with buildings in sinuous, primordial shapes and bright colours, is an enthusiastic hymn to life and an example of the balance, between the dreamy and the playful, of architecture and nature. The porticos, variously cavernous and shadowy, lend themselves well to offer a refreshing break to the sweltering tourists.