EXPO 2020 DUBAI KICKS OFF: THE BOERO GROUP USES OVER 17,000 LITRES OF SPECIALLY CREATED HIGH-TECH PAINTS AND FINISHES FOR THE ITALIAN PAVILION

Expo 2020 Dubai, the first Universal Exhibition in the Arab world, opens its doors and will run from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022. Its general theme is “Connecting minds, generating the future”. The Boero Group will contribute to this international showcase in a decisive way, as Premium Partner of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, by showing its ability to innovate and revealing how it is possible to achieve excellent results geared to respecting the environment and with interesting future prospects.

Indeed, the company is committed not only to supplying products already in its range, but also to researching and developing even more innovative and sustainable solutions to be presented during this special event. 

More than 17,000 litres of products have left the Boero Group’s plant to paint the various parts that make up the Italian Pavilion, starting with the structure formed of three full-sized upside-down boat hulls that cover the pavilion and reconstructs the largest tricolour in the history of Italy (2,100 m2).  For this symbolic part of the architecture, a green, a red and a white were formulated that faithfully reproduce the official colours of the Italian flag. 

Above these colours, a transparent pearl white has been applied, specially formulated by the Group’s laboratories and carefully selected by the designers in order to obtain a spectacular effect as though the flag were moving. All this was done in order to enhance the tricolour in the best possible way by personalising it in a unique way. The hulls are connected to each other by a complex roof that mediates between the exterior and interior for climatic, lighting and acoustic aspects. With no external walls, the Pavilion also has a multimedia façade composed of over 70 kilometres of recycled plastic nautical cordage and employs an advanced natural climate mitigation system that eliminates the need for air conditioning. As a whole, the project proposes new visions for reconfigurable architecture and circular design, conceived to address the current climate crisis.

The 165 columns that support the structure of the Pavilion, covering a total of over 4,000 square metres, were also painted by Boero Group: specifically, Challenger Pro Matt was used, in a “white rope” shade with a satin finish, perfectly matching the colour of the ropes that descend from the hulls to form the external profile of the structure. The same shade was used for the interior of the hulls.

In addition, for the interior of the pavilion, the Group decorated some areas of specific interest such as the VIP area, the Auditorium, the Educational Lab and the foyer, with the experimental use of “neomaterials”: raw materials and pigments based on spirulina, a microalga that gives surprising colours, thus proposing a green alternative to traditional pigments of synthetic origin. With different quantities of microalgae in the paint, it was possible to obtain shades of green that met the requirements of the architecture studios CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota Building Office, designers of the Italian Pavilion together with F&M Ingegneria and Matteo Gatto, and responding to the desire to be able to adorn the pavilion with decorations and colours that were the maximum expression of naturalness and of the combination of natural and artificial.

For the Group, which has painted more than 13,000 square metres of surface area, both indoors and outdoors, participation in Expo 2020 Dubai therefore represents an important opportunity to continue to innovate by offering all its expertise and know-how, demonstrating to the world the excellence of Italian manufacturing, capable of contributing to the creation of beauty through colour.