Al Wasl Plaza in Dubai. 130 metres across. The world’s largest 360-degree projection surface. 3,000 lighting fixtures, 1,000 speakers, 1,300 costumes, 192 nations represented.
When Studio Bound took on the Expo 2020 Dubai opening ceremony, those numbers defined the technical scope. But the actual challenge — the one that determined whether the production succeeded or failed — was not managing technology. It was keeping the human scale inside a space that could have been swallowed entirely by spectacle.
The Kinetic LED Ring: Functional Architecture
Studio Bound designed a kinetic LED ring that floated above the stage. Not decoration — functional architecture. It could move, shift colour, and serve simultaneously as a lighting instrument and the visual centrepiece of the production. It had to read from close proximity and from across the full expanse of Al Wasl Plaza. It had to satisfy both the audience beneath the dome and broadcast cameras transmitting to millions globally.
Engineering this element required months of structural calculation and load testing. What appeared effortless on broadcast required rigorous technical collaboration between production design and structural engineering from the earliest stages. This is the reality behind every element in a production of this scale: the appearance of simplicity is the product of extraordinary complexity.
192 Nations: The Radial Flag Solution
The closing ceremony presented a unique production design problem: how do you show all 192 participating nations simultaneously without creating visual chaos? Studio Bound created a flag display that radiated from the centre of the stage. Every nation visible. The radial pattern creating unified geometry. Sightlines working from every angle. No single nation dominating.
The geometry was not arbitrary — it echoed the architecture of Al Wasl Plaza itself, connecting the ceremony design to its physical context. And it read clearly on broadcast cameras, which is never guaranteed with complex visual arrangements designed for live audiences. Designing for both simultaneously remains one of the hardest production design problems that exists.
Dynamic Range: Intimacy Within Monumentality
Not every moment of the Expo 2020 Dubai ceremonies required spectacle. Some of the most powerful moments were single performers on elevated platforms, surrounded by purple and blue washes, with the ring glowing amber above.
Scale does not require constant bombardment. The production design created dynamic range — moving between full-dome projection spectacle and focused, intimate human moments. That flexibility was essential for ceremonies that needed to shift between celebratory, contemplative, and spectacular modes within a single event. A production design that can only do one register, however brilliantly, is insufficient for this kind of work.
The Principle That Holds
Working within Al Wasl Plaza’s lattice dome structure meant designing with existing architecture rather than despite it. The structural geometry remained visible even during full projection. Studio Bound’s scenic design worked with that geometry — the structural reality grounding the digital illusion, keeping audiences anchored in a physical space even when surrounded by environments projecting impossible scales.
The lesson from Expo 2020 Dubai that applies to every production: you can have all the technology in the world, and if it does not connect with people on a human level, it is just noise. The measure of production design success is not technical achievement. It is whether the audience felt something that mattered when they left.
Patrick Larsen is an Emmy Award-winning production designer and the founder of Studio Bound, based in Singapore. Over two decades, he has designed environments for global audiences — from the Expo 2020 Dubai ceremonies and Olympic broadcast sets to Las Vegas residencies, Broadway-scale theatrical productions, and permanent installations across Asia and the Middle East. Studio Bound takes projects from concept to build with one fully integrated team of designers, concept artists, technical drafters, and production managers. Read more at patricklarsen.studio or visit studiobound.sg
Further reading: Designing Hope Road: Creating an Immersive Journey Through Bob Marley's Legacy | Studio Bound: Five Projects That Define Production Design in 2025
