Zaha Hadid Architects’ project for Expo 2030 in Odessa

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) was part of the delegation that represented the Ukrainian city of Odesa at the 171st General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions in Paris to present Odessa's candidacy for expo 2030.

The architecture firm proposed a master plan with four central pavilions, that can be dismantled at the end of the exhibition and reused as new municipal buildings, avoiding waste and reducing the anthropic impact on nature. The structures, in fact, can be completely removed and the wetlands of the site restored and integrated into the new coastal eco-park, near the city center.

ZHA's project will also offer participating countries a building kit, with a flexible modular system to assemble each pavilion. By introducing this digital configurator tool the pavilions can be manufactured quickly and economically by the local supply chain. In addition, the various modules will be designed to fit the barges carrying goods on the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Dnipro River. Each pavilion can then be installed, disassembled, shipped, and reinstalled very easily and, at the end of the exhibition, the various nations can choose whether or not to donate their pavilion to Ukraine, so that it is reused as a kindergarten, clinic, school, and workspace.

The project will also reduce the use of concrete – making extensive use of materials recovered from damaged and demolished buildings in southern Ukraine – and integrate into the design of the pavilions renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic panels on roofs and wind turbines, able to create a site energetically-efficient and also to provide energy to the surrounding community.