The Netherlands Expo pavilion makes its own water to grow food in the desert heat

Sustainability is one of the key themes at Dubai’s World Expo, and with more than 190 countries represented at the six-month event, few have embodied that better than the Netherlands.

Its pavilion is itself a cutting-edge sustainable innovation, a structure whose centerpiece is an 18-meter-tall, cone-shaped vertical farm.

The brainchild of Dutch architect Michiel Raaphorst of V8 Architects, it’s described as a “biotope” (basically, an area with a uniform biological environment) that aims to “unite energy, water and food,” allowing farming even in places where the temperatures are typically too high, like in the desert heat of Dubai.

“We built a system of technology to harvest energy from the sun and water out of air,” Raaphorst tells CNN.

Growing food in the desert

Over the past few years, Dutch companies have been looking at innovations to produce energy from renewable sources, cultivate food sustainably and scale-up production from indoor vertical farms. They’re now using the biotope pavilion to showcase some of their green achievements.

A chimney at the top of the cone sucks in air to capture moisture and produces water through a condensation process powered by solar panels installed on the rooftop. With this technique – developed by Dutch company SunGlacier Technologies and designer Ap Verheggen – the pavilion can produce up to 1,200 liters of water a day. Some is available for visitors to drink and some is used to feed around 9,300 mint, basil and tomato plants dotting the surface of the cone.

The condensation process leaves high levels of CO2, making the cone the ideal place to grow other kinds of food. “It’s humid, dark, cold,” Raaphorst says. “These are the perfect conditions for edible oyster mushrooms. You can smell them here as we grow them inside the cone.”

The pavilion’s temperature is regulated using energy from the solar panels, so it doesn’t feel like being in the middle of the desert. Although the cone is a controlled environment, it’s more open than conventional vertical farms and uses less energy, says Raaphorst, and it can be used anywhere in the world.

Visitors to the pavilion can learn about the cone through an immersive and interactive experience. Inside the cone, a short film showing how the biotope works is projected on umbrellas given to visitors. The three-minute show ends with water falling like rain from the top of the cone.

A sustainable solution for vertical farming?

The Dutch pavilion also aims to reduce waste in other ways. The façade and the external walls are made with used industrial materials like steel pipes, while the floor is made from a combination of mushrooms and straw. Once Expo 2020 is over, all the building materials will be recycled locally.

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Expo 2020 Dubai is now open, revealing a spectacular array of pavilions, many designed by world-famous architects. The UAE pavilion, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is a sight to behold, shaped like a falcon -- the country's national bird -- in flight. The structure is topped by falcon-wing shapes made of carbon fiber and fitted with solar panels.

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A series of blue boxes draped in fired clay balls make up the Iran pavilion. Each box showcases different elements of the country's culture, tradition and handicrafts. Streams of water accompany visitors down walkways and into the pavilion, designed by architects Shift Process Practice.

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"Innovating for a shared future" is the theme of the UK pavilion. Designed by Es Devlin Studio, it offers to take visitors on a digital journey through the UK's role in space and artificial intelligence. The theme is reflected in the facade, which features continuously changing collective message generated by AI and visitors' contributions.

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The network of vertical aluminum panels that hangs like a cloud over timber structures is a key element of the Australia pavilion, designed by bureau^proberts. The "cloud" even lights up in the evening to mimic "the ancient and rugged landscape of Australia." Inside, the pavilion explores 60,000 years of Australian innovation, culture and creativity.

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Designed by Al Jabal Engineering, the Pakistan pavilion offers multi-sensory installations encapsulated in walls of color. The colorful façade is a "reflection of the beautiful changing seasons the country experiences, one of the most diverse on Earth," according to its designer, Rashid Rana. Inside, Pakistan's "hidden treasures" are showcased, including its spiritual traditions, history and sustainability initiatives.

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The Russia pavilion, designed by Tchoban SPEECH, is a huge dome covered by strings of giant multi-colored tubes. It's meant to symbolize the question: How do we find our place in an interconnected world? Inside, it explores scientific advancements and creative innovations past and present.

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A combination of traditional Arabesque and Japanese Asanoha patterns form the façade of the Japan pavilion, meant to symbolize the crossover of culture between Japan and the Middle East. Inside the structure, designed by Yuko Nagayama and Associates, visitors can see 3D art installations.

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The Swiss Pavilion, "Reflections," represents the country's traditions and spectacular landscapes. Designed by architects OOS, its giant interactive mirror façade reflects the red carpet that leads to it, to show the national flag. Inside, a "crystal cave" showcases technology, innovation and scientific achievements through immersive displays, before visitors are led through a "sea of fog."

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Built from reusable materials -- fabric, iron and wood -- the Spain pavilion is intended to promote sustainability. The structure, designed by Amann-Canovas-Maruri, is made of cone shaped "solar chimneys" that cool the pavilion and highlight Spain's links with the Arab world.

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Designed by Italian architect Marco Pestalozza, the Kuwait pavilion is a digital showpiece, displaying images of the country's landscapes on its façade, and showcasing a vision for the country's future. Water towers stretch upwards through each level of the structure, symbolizing Kuwait's "commitment to sustainability and water security."

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The German pavilion, themed as "Campus Germany," invites visitors to explore a "curriculum" covering energy, cities of the future and biodiversity within its "labs." The Graduation Hall features swinging seats and during a "graduation ceremony," visitors are encouraged to swing in unison to reflect how great achievements come from working together. The building, a vertical ensemble of cuboids, was designed by Facts And Fiction and LAVA.

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Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany, and is the only national state to have its own pavilion in Dubai. Built by NÜSSLI Adunic, with a distinctive timber frame, visitors can activate digital flowers in the landscape using their smartphones and explore different topics through augmented reality.

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Egypt's ancient civilization meets its vision for the future in its pavilion. Designed by Egyptian Hazem Hamada, the pavilion is decorated in hieroglyphs, while inside, giant screens explore the country's legacy and progress. The Great Pyramid of Giza is represented by the triangular gate through which visitors enter. Once inside, visitors are met with archaeological artifacts and interactive displays.

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The six-story Saudi Arabia Pavilion, designed by Boris Micka, is the second-largest pavilion after that of the UAE, and has a sloping, rectangular structure. The "Heritage" escalator takes visitors up to experience the country's history and culture, while the "Future" escalator takes them down to explore modern Saudi Arabia through an LED mirror screen and an interactive water feature. The pavilion has been awarded the LEED Platinum Certificate for sustainability.

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Not a pavilion, but a remarkable design nonetheless, the Al Wasl Plaza is the heart of Expo 2020, connecting the three thematic districts, Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. Al Wasl is the historic name for Dubai and also means "connection." The plaza holds the world's largest 360-degree projection dome. Made of 13.6 kilometers of steel, and designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the trellis steelwork forms the Expo logo.

Raaphorst hopes his cone will be adopted more widely as a sustainable solution for vertical farming. He believes it can help to grow food in places where space is scarce, like large cities, or can help repurpose old, abandoned buildings.

Larissa Zimberoff, a journalist and expert on vertical farming, and author of “Technically Food,” says the cone’s technology is a promising approach, but cautions that by not being enclosed, it is “open to pests, and vertical farming will exponentially take those pests, bacteria and bugs and spread it to the whole crop.”

“It’s a prototype, a blueprint,” says Raaphorst. “I think it’s very essential that vertical farming is not an industrial activity happening in a black box. [It is] a way to bring food production closer to people. It’s a very important crossover between making public buildings, education and food production.”

For the Netherlands, growing vertically with the biotope could also help with a pressing issue – flooding.

“Twenty-five percent of our country is below sea level,” says Carel Richter, commissioner general for the Netherlands at Expo 2020. “It’s like a swimming pool without water. If there is a lot of flooding it makes sense you start producing above the flood line.”

He believes it’s crucial that countries use Expo 2020 to share knowledge and show the latest innovations to solve future challenges.

“Climate change and population growth put pressure on resources,” he adds. “It’s important to come up with new technologies. We’ve come up with the biotope, a mini world in the desert. It can be replicated everywhere, on-shore, off-shore, inside, outside. We can use it in different environments and in different parts of the world.”