“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like,” Steve Jobs famously said. “Design is how it works.” This quote perhaps describes why the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) pavilion at the 2023/24 International Horticultural Expo in Qatar looked as stylish and worked as smartly as Jobs' own masterpiece, the iPhone.


Reflecting the event's theme of “Green Desert, Better Environment,” the pavilion showcased how plants can revitalize a parched desert setting in a world where the temperature is rising as fast as a rocket. Designed by the Dubai-based architectural firm Dar Al Handasah (Shair and Partners), the soaring 39-foot-tall asymmetrical structure was inspired by a Qatari fisherman's net that appeared as if it had just been cast out over the sea, where it froze in mid-flight. Made of recyclable glulam sustainably harvested in Europe, the half-indoor, half-outdoor structure was conceived as a walk-through experience, similar to crossing through a natural canyon. The structure included dozens of vertical cross-sections that served as shelves for almost 70 types of plants. Its undulating slopes and curves allowed in sunlight, captured breezes, and created shady spots, yielding diverse microclimates for the flora. The pavilion's inventive design meant that the plants — ranging from the sun-greedy Pink Pixie Paper Flower to the shade-favoring Maidenhair Fern — could thrive while literally just a few feet apart.

Weaving between the nooks and crannies, visitors used its shaded areas to cool off from the scorching Qatar sun and took in signage providing information in Arabic and English, from how plants guard the climate and affect the food chain to the AIPH's concepts for greening cities. A kids trail sported educational signage set at a lower height to make it easier for smaller visitors to read. “All gardening is a landscape painting,” said Alexander Pope. And so was the pavilion dedicated to it with its brushstrokes of elegance, imagination, and education.