Pavilion Z is the largest and most remarkable construction built on the occasion of the first international engineering fair in 1959. It is the landmark of the Brno exhibition centre closing the main axes of the complex. Its unmistakeable cupola has a diameter of 90 metres and its height is 46 metres. These extraordinary dimensions were enabled by a frame of steel tubes designed by Ferdinand Lederer. To make the frame flexible (its top might deviate by as much as 70 cm a day, depending on sunlight), it consists of spiral tubes the intersections of which are secured with steel ties.
The pavilion on a circular plan has an exhibition area of 20,000 m2. Due to the terraced circular galleries, the building has three storeys supported by a reinforced-concrete frame with round columns. The outer shell is made of aluminium, and the bottom section of the cupola is illuminated by acrylate sections (originally glass).
After 1989 the pavilion framework was restored and in the 1990s the building was insulated. It is one of a few post-war constructions in the exhibition centre protected as a cultural monument.
