How Stephen Hawking inspired the UK Pavilion’s poetic presentation at Expo 2020

Designed by Es Devlin, the pavilion will project AI-generated poems throughout the event

The UK Pavilion's cone shape is made of several slats that will project a 'collective message'. Photo: Alin Constantin

As Expo 2020 Dubai begins, the UK Pavilion will beam a message to the world, starting with one word – dignity.

Envisioned by artist and designer Es Devlin, the 21-metre-high structure acts as a poem pavilion. Its cone shape is made of several slats where, on each end, algorithmically generated words will appear throughout the event, creating a “collective message” for all.

Follow the latest updates on Expo 2020 Dubai here.

The first word, dignity, was entered into the AI algorithm by Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation and director general of Expo 2020 Dubai. The technology will then use the word as a starting point to generate couplets that will be projected on to the pavilion for visitors to read.

Al Hashimy said she hoped the “AI-powered creative journey” would serve as a “unifying force” during Expo 2020 and after the event.

The pavilion serves as an experimental look at the possibilities of AI. Photo: Alin Constantin

With its fusion of poetry and technology, the presentation follows the UK Pavilion’s theme, "Innovating for a Shared Future." It is also an experimental look at the possibilities of AI, of whether or not it can compose and wield verse to express human emotion.

The concept of a universal message was inspired by Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist whose final projects included the pursuit of a “breakthrough message” from the world that could be sent to space in an effort to find or communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence. Hawking launched the Breakthrough Initiatives, funded by Russian tycoon Yuri Milner and his wife Julia, in 2015.

A rendering of the UK Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site. Photo: Department for International Trade

That year, a joint letter from the Breakthrough programme stated: “There has never been a better moment for a large-scale international effort to find life in the Universe. As a civilisation, we owe it to ourselves to commit time, resources and passion to this quest.”

In a interview with Dezeen in 2018, when the concept of the UK Pavilion was first launched, Devlin said: “Poetry brings order to language, and machine-learning is a way to weave our voices together without prejudice while following the rhythms of centuries of poetic thought in a range of diverse cultures.”

She also talked about how the project could help to address divisive rhetoric in parts of the world. “The public debate around national identity is currently tending perilously towards the divisive and prosaic. I hope that the many millions who attend Expo 2020 and visit the UK Pavilion will feel a sense of the possibilities of the collective poetic,” she said.

Throughout the event, which runs until March, the UK Pavilion will also stage talks with various thinkers, offer British food and drink, and stage artist performances and interactive experiences for families.

More information is at expo2020dubai.com

See more of Es Devlin's previous projects in the gallery below:

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  British set designer Es Devlin with her installation ‘Mirror Maze’ (2016), which was filled with the scent of an exclusive Chanel fragrance. Photos: Es Devlin

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  Devlin's floating stage on Lake Constance, a design for Georges Bizet’s 'Carmen' at Bregenz festival in Austria. Actors performed on the deck of cards below and videos were projected on to the cards cascading mid-air

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  The Weeknd performs at Coachella on one of Devlin's sets. Featuring a large-scale mask, the work explored the use of portraiture and alter egos in performance

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  For the 2017 play 'Ugly Lies the Bone', performed at London's National Theatre, Devlin created a basin-shaped map on to which video clips were projected

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  A partial map of Manhattan created on an elliptical hemisphere. Devlin’s work was created with architect Bjarke Ingels to promote The XI residential development in Chelsea, New York

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  Adele performing at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 2015. Devlin worked with the singer again in 2016 for her world tour, which began in Belfast

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  Devlin’s set design for a Louis Vuitton fashion show for its cruise collection. The show was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May 2016

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  The set for U2’s Innocence + Experience Tour, featuring a walkway surrounded by video screens that gave the illusion of performers on stage walking through the images

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  A rendering of Devlin's UK Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai

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  At Kanye West’s Watch the Throne Tour with Jay-Z, the two musicians performed on giant video cubes designed by Devlin

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  Devlin's immersive installation 'Room 2022', installed at the Miami Beach Edition hotel, aimed to capture the experience of waking up in a strange hotel room

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  Devlin's set design for British rapper Stormzy at the Brit Awards 2018

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  For the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics Games in London, Devlin covered the stadium floor with the reproduction of a Damien Hirst spin painting. Getty

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  The artist with her work temporary 'Mirror Maze' installation

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  Devlin’s stage design for ‘The Rise & Fall of the City of Mahagonny’, written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Depicting a dystopian city, Devlin used shipping containers and video projections to design the stage

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  Devlin’s stage design for ‘Don Giovanni’ at the Royal Opera House in 2014