Latvia pavilion - Soil (for innovation) at Expo 2020 Dubai is designed as a symbiosis of ancient and futuristic. The Latvian genetic code has been chosen as its basic material - peat, which is used as a canvas on which to tell the stories of Latvia's potential and future development. Prehistoric material contains unique information about the history of Latvia, ancient plants, trees, people, while modern technologies allow you to look to the future and tell about the vision of Latvia's future image. 

Conceptually, the exhibition is designed as a manifestation of constant progression. The visitor of the pavilion experiences four dimensions of Latvia. The further the visitor goes through the exposition, the wider view of Latvia as a place for growth and innovation he has experiences. The content of the exhibition is designed as 4 multimedia stories about Latvia in 4 different rooms/zones with 4 different volumetric elements (exhibits), told using 4 different digital technologies. The stories are derived from the main values of Latvia's image or: Latvia - Soil for experiments; Soil for discoveries; Soil for connectivity; Soil for innovation. 

The exhibition is created as an example of sustainable thinking, where ecological, renewable material coexists with modern technologies. Peat can be found in Latvian swamps, and it is usually used as a fossil fuel or fertilizer in agriculture. Peat is renewable material however its speed of renewing itself by about 2mm a year is not fast enough to be widely used for a large quantities of cheap fossil fuel or fertilizer in agriculture. The aim of this project was to obtain higher material added value by using it as a raw material for a high-quality design product. 

The excavated peat blocks were dried until they became harder. They were then sawn into small bricks and glued together to obtain panels of different thicknesses. To further emphasize the contrast between prehistoric material and modern technology and at the same time emphasize harmony between two opposites, peat objects are made of sculptural reliefs created with the help of a three-axis robotic cutter using a digitally designed three-dimensional model. All elements are prefabricated in factory in Latvia and systematically assembled in pavilion. This peat treatment technology was used for the first time. 

Traditionally national pavilions after the World Expos are demolished and leave a lot of construction waste behind, so this time we wanted to create the Latvian pavilion with absolutely minimal foot print. After Expo 2020 exposition peat will be returned back to swamp – the place where it came from. There it will blend with soil and disappear while technologies will be reused.