About the Project

The Finland Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai was called Snow Cape, a name that comes from lumi, the Finnish word for snow. Designed by JKMM Architects, it set out to express the character of Finland: its landscape, its quiet relationship with nature and its culture of innovation.

The design brought two very different worlds together. Over a structure that recalled the Bedouin tent, a familiar form in the Arabian desert, the architects laid a white, snow-like covering. The result joined Nordic and Middle Eastern themes in a single image, with Finland's winters meeting the desert's shelters under one roof.

Photographing the pavilion meant paying attention to how that white surface behaved under Dubai's light. In the brightness of the day it appeared crisp and graphic, while at dusk it softened and took on the colours of the sky. This series looks at the pavilion's form, its materials and the way it sat within the wider Expo site.

Project details

Client: Expo City Dubai
Project: Finland Pavilion
Design: JKMM Architects
Location: Dubai, UAE
Year: 2023
Photographer: Dany Eid
Services: Architectural Photography