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Watch: Stunning timelapse video shows how Expo 2020 site rose from the desert

Dubai - The 40-second clip shows 8-year work that went into creating the incredible architecture

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A stunning timelapse video shows the sheer scale of work that went into realising the UAE's Expo 2020 dream.

With just five days to go, Expo 2020 Dubai shared the video that captures the eight years of dedication that helped create the incredible architecture for the region’s first world fair.

The 40-second video begins with an overhead shot of an empty desert land adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South. It quickly shapes into the iconic site it is today, with the desert terrain coming alive with the Expo’s iconic architecture:

It also shows the mammoth work that went into creating the site’s entry portals that are 21 metres tall and 30 metres long:

The timelapse video further depicts how the mega event's Al Wasl Dome rose up from the desert sands. It is the largest 360-degree projection surface in the world. Over one million man hours and 14 months of preparations went into its construction:

The video ends with a reminder to the world: The greatest show begins in five days.

Earlier this month, a then-and-now photo collage of the UAE Vice-President at the Expo 2020 Dubai site in 2016 and 2021 had illustrated how the country transformed a dream into reality in five years:

The first half of the collage shows His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at the Expo site in 2016. The site was nothing but a desert then.

Fast-forward to September 1, 2021 — when the Dubai Ruler visited the site to kickstart the one-month countdown to the mega event — and you see him atop the 55-metre ‘Garden in the Sky’ observation tower, taking in 360-degree views of all that Expo has to offer.

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