Sunshine, shopping ... and falcon-shaped pavilions
Would you really want to spend your holiday at a world fair – however enticing the hype? Sarah Marshall finds out
Spreading its wings across the desert, Santiago Calatrava’s falconshaped pavilion appears poised for action. Carbon-fibre feathers pivot above solar panels on the Spanish architect’s ambitious creation, designed to mimic the UAE’s elegant national bird.
Postponed due to the pandemic, Expo 2020 has opened to the public after eight years of planning, several billion dollars of investment, and an unnerving amount of stress, sweat and tears. Being Dubai, the scale of the event is enormous. Hosting pavilions from 192 countries around the planet, it is the largest world fair in the event’s 170-year history and the biggest global gathering the Middle East has ever seen.
It is also the largest public event since the pandemic began. While the Tokyo Olympics took place without spectators, Dubai’s stage has been set for audience participation, and organisers are confident the risks of Covid outbreaks are low. (Almost 85 per cent of the UAE has been double vaccinated and every visitor entering the country requires a negative PCR result taken within 72 hours before entry, regardless of their vaccination status.)
However, the biggest question is whether the event holds enough allure for holiday-starved travellers who might be seeking the beach and winter sun. After all, the idea of spending time with hordes of strangers won’t be at the top of everyone’s agenda. I had my own reservations about what could essentially turn out to be a glorified trade fair and, to some extent, I was proven right. Walking through the site, it quickly became obvious that several countries have used Expo as an opportunity to give themselves a patriotic pat on the back and boast about achievements. Fortunately, others have taken a more interesting approach.
“In the past year and a half, we have all dealt with problems that require global solutions,” said Mehdi Taher, the UK’s deputy commissioner general for the British Embassy in Dubai and director of the UK pavilion. “This isn’t about having the UK on broadcast; it’s about using our platform to draw people from across the world to discuss the issues of our time.”
Inspired by “Breakthrough Message”, one of Stephen Hawking’s final projects, the UK’s Expo contribution is a collaborative poem expressing a message from our world to other civilisations in space. Guests arriving via a zig-zagging walkway use their phones to scan a QR code and enter a word, transformed by an AI algorithm into a couplet.
I spent several minutes deliberating over my entry, which ended up – ironically – being “spontaneity”. Sitting inside the choral space of designer and architect Es Devlin, I was unexpectedly moved to see my chosen letters projected onto a slat, accompanied by a crowd-sourced sound tapestry of donated hums, clicks and voices.
“It’s amazing to see the emotional reaction people have,” said Taher. “Some people just enjoy the experience, but others are really connected to it.”
The continuous poem will continue to grow over the next six months, although no decision has been made on what to do with the collaborative creation that is likely to become the most authored work of art in history.
Aside from a red telephone box tucked discreetly in a corner outside, there is a refreshing absence of any stereotypes in the UK’s crosslaminated timber building. One area where national pride does shine through, however, is in the food. In the 1851 restaurant, named after London’s Great Exhibition (the inaugural Expo), the menu offers Grimsby fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, followed by a choice of Eton Mess or an ice cream with a 99 flake.
Other countries have also taken the opportunity to showcase their cuisine. Highlights of the 200 food and beverage
‘We wanted to create an experience that gets people to act differently’
outlets include Alkebulan, the world’s first African dining hall, showcasing fine-dining chefs hailing from the continent, and Albaik, Saudi Arabia’s answer to KFC.
In a few weeks, culinary experimentalists Bompas & Parr will launch their Epochal Banquet, a futuristic tasting menu of space-age dishes made using Nasa technology, and desserts that change flavour in your mouth.
Covering 1.7 square miles, the Expo site is split into three main areas referencing the event’s key themes of Mobility, Opportunity and Sustainability. Reflecting current concerns about climate change, the latter features some of the most thought-provoking pavilions on show.
My favourite belongs to the Netherlands, which has cultivated a vertical mushroom farm harvesting its own water and energy. Handed an umbrella, I stepped inside the coneshaped structure and marvelled as I was soaked in a light show of raindrops and geometric shapes.
Each themed area also has its own
dedicated arena. Designed by the UKbased Grimshaw Architects, Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion is an immersive journey into ocean depths and through subterranean forest. Surrounding the enormous canopy, 18 Energy Trees rotate towards the sun, generating enough power in a year to send a car to space and back.
Given Dubai’s reputation for excess and consumption, the commentary is even more poignant. Senior manager Mona Al Ali, who helped co-ordinate the exhibit, told me: “Everyone talks about sustainability, but we wanted to create an experience that gets to people’s hearts, and hopefully get them to act differently.”
In one section, wardrobes are stuffed with clothes and fridges overflow with food and ready meals. The idea, Al Ali revealed, is to stimulate conversation about the waste we produce in our daily lives and the subsequent impact on nature. Directing my attention to a mobile made with hundreds of fake moustaches, she added: “We need to look at where our priorities lie.” In a city where convenience is king, that could be hard to achieve.
Although Expo doesn’t promise to provide any solutions to global issues, it does spark conversation. At its roots, that is what the event has always been about. Some of the ideas may be too abstract for the average thinker, but throw in bold architecture and flashing lights and there is enough to keep everyone entertained. And while I wouldn’t plan a trip specifically to visit, by setting aside 24 hours in my itinerary, I came away with a lot to think about.
Al Ali’s progressive line of thinking complements Dubai’s bigger vision to become a more liveable city by 2040, with an Urban Master Plan set to generate more green spaces, housing and modes of public transport. Responsible for the tallest building, the deepest swimming pool and the biggest Expo, Dubai now has grand ambitions to become the happiest country in the world.
The bar is set high for upcoming endeavours but, for now, Dubai has succeeded at what it does best – putting on a really good show.
Overseas travel is currently subject to restrictions. See page 2