India’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a dynamic, continually moving structure that will retell stories about the country’s past and plans for the future.
The architect who designed the India pavilion at Expo 2020 said his aim was to capture constant change in the country.
When you reach the top floor, you realise the scale because you can see the rooftops of the other pavilions
Dikshu Kukreja,
architect
“The kinetic facade helps us to keep changing the story so the building talks to people,” Dikshu Kukreja, managing principal at CP Kukreja Architects, told The National.
“The multidimensionality and dynamism of the facade allows us to tell a different story of India every time. We wanted to show movement and transformation.
“The moving blocks metaphorically represent an India that is changing constantly."
He assured visitors grand views of the huge Expo site from the roof of the five-storey building.
“When you reach the top floor, you realise the scale because you can see the rooftops of the other pavilions,” he said.
Computers control the rotation of each of the 600 earth-toned blocks that wrap around the structure.
Each unit can swivel individually, in tandem with the entire row or synchronised with the entire wall.
To celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, a wide range of videos featuring culture, dance, industry and the country’s space programme, will be beamed across the structure.
“What the facade will show in the morning will look very different at night – that’s the way it has been designed,” Mr Kukreja said.
“We deliberately used muted colours for the blocks so it could act as a blank canvas. The earthy colours are from the sand dunes in the desert.”
The pavilion overlooks a spinning wheel made of steel and red sandstone.
About the size of a badminton court, the wheel, or chakra, is near the entrance to the pavilion.
The chakra is inspired by history and linked to India’s independence struggle from British colonial rule.
It is mounted on the roof of a plaza beneath which people can relax and eat a meal.
Visitors will learn about an 18th-century astronomical observatory in India’s capital New Delhi that also inspired the design.
The India pavilion is one of three structures that will remain post Expo when the site will be transformed into a residential and business neighbourhood.
The blocks will serve as a shade to shield the glass and steel interior of the structure from direct sunlight.
“It allows us in a very smart way to control the sunlight coming into the building,” Mr Kukreja said.
“You can change the alignment of the blocks depending on the movement of the Sun. But in the winter when it is pleasant, you can let in more sunlight.”
Planning for the future was an integral part of the initial drawing process.
“I had to keep thinking of Expo and beyond. It’s not one of the pavilions that at the end of the Expo will be dismantled, it’s here to stay. We planned early so it has a legacy built into it,” he said.
“The design is flexible in case the lower floor is used for offices and the top floor for something else. I thought what if I have to open the blocks on the top and keep the ones below closed depending on what purpose the building serves post-Expo.”
The interior will depict strengths of different states, tourist destinations, exhibitions by various industries covering green energy, artificial intelligence, IT, solar energy and agriculture.
“Many displays will have a digital interface so you could see a space flight or the beauty of Kerala or Rajasthan where you can visit,” Mr Kukreja said.
The Expo 2020 Dubai is preparing to welcome visitors from October 1. It will be the first major in-person global event since the pandemic began, with close to 200 countries participating.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
