Anticipation is building with only two months to go until Expo 2020 Dubai welcomes the world.
The eagerly awaited celebration of international innovation and ingenuity will take over the emirate for six months from October 1.
Nations from all corners of the globe have been working tirelessly to highlight their culture, tradition and talents on a grand stage.
The sprawling Expo site in Dubai South will be home to more than 200 striking pavilions, 191 of which will represent individual countries.
Expo participants that offered a taste of things to come with artist's impressions of their pavilions are now putting the final touches to the real thing.
Many have released striking pictures of their pavilions deep into construction as they gear up for the big opening.
The National has compiled a gallery of 17 fantastic pavilions visitors will soon be able to experience for themselves.
The public has already been given a preview of what to expect when the world's greatest show opens.
The Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai welcomed more than 100,000 visitors from January to April of this year.
It set a high standard for the rest of the event's pavilions to follow and there is plenty of reason to believe they are up to the task.
Italy set to be a star attraction
Italy's Expo 2020 pavilion certainly promises to be a masterpiece.
Its crown jewel will be a 3D-printed copy of Michelangelo's David statue, created through a sophisticated digitising process that involved scanning the statue to create a digital twin.
Engineers in Florence used high-tech cameras and mounted laser scanners on stairs to capture microscopic details of the 16th-century marble masterpiece.
From Russia with love
The eye-catching Russian pavilion, with multicoloured metallic lights wrapped closely around the structure, will make it one of the standout structures at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Echoing the concept of the famous Russian dolls, the interior design is modelled similarly, with a small entrance leading to a much wider space within.
Located in the Expo’s Mobility District – one of three theme zones – the pavilion attempts to convey a sense of movement and agility.
Dutch celebration of nature
Nature will spring into life and the power of the sun will make it rain inside a Dutch pavilion housing a vertical farm at Expo 2020 Dubai.
A giant cone blanketed with edible plants that shelters mushrooms growing will be a focal point of an inventive structure.
It will be home to a solar-powered rain shower that captures moisture from the atmosphere and will harvest hundreds of litres of water daily to irrigate the greenery.
Austria to champion sustainability
Austria will deliver an impressive vision for a more sustainable future at Expo 2020 Dubai.
The country's stunning pavilion, taking pride of place in the Opportunity District, is an ambitious architectural concept that aims to tackle the important climate questions of our time.
Built from overturned cones using a 9,000-year-old soil called loam, containing silt and clay, it will provide ventilation and house workshops and installations.
The pavilion will operate on 70 per cent less energy than a conventionally air-conditioned building in the UAE and will keep visitors cool with fogging technology.
How to be part of unforgettable show
Tickets for the mega event went on sale in July.
Single-entry tickets for the six-month world fair will cost Dh95 ($26), while a six-month season pass is Dh495.
Visitors also have the option of a multi-day ticket for Dh195, which gives them unrestricted access to the site for 30 consecutive days.
