Iraq Pavilion - Baghdad

Full description

Background: Iraq Pavilion - Baghdad extends Patrick Macasaet and Vei Tan’s ongoing research into gaming technologies and real-time environments as tools for architectural design, speculation and spatial storytelling. Developed as a proposal for the Iraq Pavilion at the Baghdad International Fair, the project investigates how cultural memory, national identity and future aspiration can be translated into an explorable architectural narrative. Drawing on Mesopotamian history and the circular urban form of historic Baghdad, it connects heritage with contemporary and speculative futures through architecture, media and real-time world-building.

Contribution: The proposal organises the pavilion as a continuous spatial journey through Iraq’s past, present and future. A grounded circular base establishes its historical and civic framework, while an ascending sequence moves through Mesopotamian, Islamic and modern histories toward a technologically oriented future. The project further develops Macasaet and Tan’s research into gaming environments by using real-time spatial workflows to design, visualise and communicate the pavilion as an immersive architectural world rather than as a series of isolated images. Architectural form, circulation, narrative, landscape and environmental performance are developed together as an interconnected system, testing how game-engine methods can support both architectural design and experiential storytelling.

Significance: Iraq Pavilion - Baghdad received a Wonder Global Award in 2026, providing independent international recognition of the project’s architectural and narrative contribution. The award extends the work beyond its original competition context and provides external validation of its integration of architectural design, cultural storytelling, environmental analysis and emerging real-time design workflows.