Garden in the Sky and water feature factshee
Soaring 55 metres above the ground, Garden in the Sky is an observation tower and “flying park” in one, offering 360-degree views of the wonder-filled 4.38 sqkm Expo 2020 Dubai site.
Located in Jubilee Park, the tower’s upper floor is planted with 10 Peltophorum Inerme trees and is linked by stairs to the air-conditioned lower floor. Also known as yellow flame trees, Peltophorum Inerme are well adapted to the UAE’s hot and arid climate and form an integral part of Dubai’s parks and streetscapes.Visitors to this iconic attraction, the only one of its kind in the world, will enter the lower cabin in the basement and the upper cabin on the ground floor. The interlinked cabins rotate as they ascend and descend.
DESIGNERS
Asif Khan – Enhancement Design
- London based Asif Khan works across the fields of architecture, industrial and furniture design, and is dedicated to pushing these disciplines in new and unexpected directions. In addition to Garden in the Sky, his work at Expo 2020 includes Expo’s three Entry Portals designed using strands of ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre composite and Expo 2020’s Public Realm
JUBILEE PARK
In addition to Garden in the Sky, Jubilee Park is home to dozens of food outlets, large-scale art installations, the Jubilee Stage, the 15 metre-high, 360 degree-round Expo 2020 water feature, the World Souq and Rashid’s Playground – an ocean-themed adventure inspired by the imagination and underwater exploits of Expo 2020 mascot Rashid.
Jubilee Park’s design is based on the wadi, a type of seasonal river that springs to life in the desert after heavy rains, painting the arid landscape green.
EXPO 2020 WATER FEATURE
Water, earth and fire combine to make the Expo 2020 Water Feature one of Expo 2020’s must-see attractions
Experience giant sheets of water tumbling down 13-metre-high vertical walls that by day cascade into a mysterious, multi-hued circle of fire, and by night defy gravity by flowing upwards — accompanied by an orchestral score from the award-winning composer of the Game of Thrones theme music.
Situated between Al Wasl Plaza and Jubilee Park, the Expo 2020 Water Feature combines the elements of water, earth and fire in a way that will both surprise and delight the senses.
Visitors coming from Al Wasl Plaza enter a verdant 40-metre-wide garden of towering palms and fragrant plants rising above a series of curving paths that encircle the central water feature like ripples in a pond. Large planted walls rise up around the feature, with three openings to a central area that takes visitors below ground level.
The 153 individual waves range from glistening sheets to bursts of water that literally leap from the walls as they make their dramatic descent to the plaza below. People are invited to walk to the base of the falls to see how the water disappears through the stone. At night the waves reverse themselves – producing a gravity-defying spectacle as they flow up the walls.
At the feature’s centre is a mysterious circle of fire that produces enormous bursts of flames in spectral hues of red, green and yellow. In keeping with Expo 2020’s theme of sustainability, these huge flames are of pure hydrogen and therefore produce no carbon.
Each surge of water is released on a musical cue, creating an orchestral masterpiece performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The original score was written by the award-winning composer Ramin Djawadi, whose work includes the theme music for the HBO series Game of Thrones, which earned him Grammy Award nominations in 2009, 2018 and 2020.
The Expo 2020 Water Feature and its surrounding landscaping and architectural elements are arranged in a way that connects people through dynamic movement inside the park, while also allowing interaction between adjacent spaces.
The Expo 2020 Water Feature was created by California-based WET Design, which uses supercomputers and other cutting-edge technology to build some of the world’s most iconic fountains and water features, including the famous dancing fountain at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. WET’s choreographers and Ramin Djawadi worked together to marry music with the visual water experience of the water feature. The surrounding landscaping and architectural features were designed by SWA Group.