As well as the many cutting-edge technologies introduced at Expos over the years, some more ordinary – but not less important – items of daily wear have also made their début, including the bra.

With one year to go until Expo 2020 Dubai, excitement is rising about the innovations and solutions that will be showcased at the next World Expo. From cordless elevators to machines that make water from thin air, visitors to Expo 2020 can expect to discover a myriad of cutting-edge technologies that will shape the future, just as visitors to past Expos were offered a glimpse of what was to come.

Dubai is getting ready to host an estimated 25 million visitors for Expo 2020 Dubai. Recently, on 20 October, the entire United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrated the one-year countdown to the Middle East’s first-ever World Expo.

The one year to go Expo 2020 launch event was held mainly at the Burj Park in the heart of downtown Dubai - home to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Mall, the Dubai Fountains and the Dubai Opera. It was a star-studded event, with live performances from Mariah Carey and Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi. So popular in fact that the 7,500 tickets to the event reportedly “sold out within seconds.”

Vancouver hosted a Specialised Expo back in 1986 that transformed the sleepy city on the Pacific coast to consistently being voted as one of the most livable cities, where last year it ranked sixth. Expo 1986 propelled the largest city in the Canadian province of British Colombia (BC) on the global spotlight and accelerated the economic development that was much needed to transform it to the global player it is now. Expo 1986 is even credited with helping get BC out of recession as well, which hit the province hard especially in 1982.

The last week of this A to Z of Expo architects is dedicated to Eberhard Zeidler, who designed the Canada Pavilion for Specialised Expo 1986 Vancouver, in partnership with Barry Downs.