Follow the latest updates on Expo 2020 Dubai here
Solar-powered rain showers, a mountain covered with herbs, flooring made from fungi and curtains produced from corn – these are some of the marvels that await visitors at the Netherlands pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai.
As visitors travel through the pavilion, the sounds of a busy street in the Netherlands will ring out overhead.
On Tuesday, the country was among the first to open up its pavilion, which is in Expo's Sustainability district.
Growth in the desert
Michiel Raaphorst, founder and director at V8 Architects, said artists and designers worked together on this project to create solutions.
“This building is our message. It is proof we can harvest, grow food and make it rain in the desert,” he said.
“It shows how inspiration and solutions can come from outside your discipline. Imagine, the floor we are on is made from mushroom. And these ideas have come from artists and innovators who have integrated their solutions into the building.
“Relating and learning from all disciplines is what Expo is about.”
The pale-coloured floor tiles and wall panels in the pavilion's lounge are made from mycelium, a biodegradable fungus-based substance used in building material.
A pleated brown curtain separates the lounge on the upper level from the visitors' section of the pavilion.
Imagine, the floor we are on is made from mushroom. And these ideas have come from artists and innovators who have integrated their solutions into the building
Michiel Raaphorst,
V8 Architects
The biodegradable curtain was produced using corn, sugar cane and cassava, a root vegetable.
The centrepiece of the pavilion is a towering 18-metre vertical farm covered with edible plants such as basil, mint and fennel.
“I’m really happy to see an idea we had more than three years ago now in the design of this building, both physically and mentally,” Mr Raaphorst said.
Re-purposing existing material
Architects and organisers said their building was proof that a circular economy was possible when using recycled material, leaving a lighter carbon footprint.
Steel sheet piles, pipes and tubes have been rented from Dubai’s construction industry and will be returned once the Expo ends in March next year.
Gravel and stones make up the flooring instead of concrete, so that it can be easily repurposed.
“We have used desert stones, rocks and gravel for temporary streets. These are used on building sites,” Mr Raaphorst said.
“Our legacy is that we will put it all back into the ground. There are more than 3,000 plants on the cone and we have selected them based on local conditions.”
Water pulled from the air
When visitors descend four meters to the bottom of the pavilion, the temperature drops noticeably and guests are handed umbrellas in a darkened space.
The white umbrellas turn into projection screens, illuminated with how the sustainable structure was created.
A burst of water falls from the top of the pavilion in a real-life illustration of how 800 litres can be generated every day out of desert air. These images of water being harvested will be released when the Expo opens next week.
Solar cells and panels in the skylight and roof provide electricity to power the process of capturing moisture from the atmosphere.
On the upper walls of the dimly lit cone interior, oyster mushrooms grow and thrive in the humid, cool and dark conditions.
Carel Richter, consul general of the Netherlands and commissioner general of the Expo, said his country was keen to work with the UAE and the region to boost food security.
“These are exciting elements,” he said.
“We have got a lot of out-of-the-box thinkers involved. We would love to work with the UAE and the region, with the cost of logistics going up and with food more scarce.
“It’s about sharing knowledge, pinpointing what the challenges are and having the dream and vision to work on it.”
“New companies and artists have been part of this journey. What we see now is how buildings can be designed.
“This can only happen because so many people believed and wanted to be part of this story.”
The six-month event opens on October 1.
Expo 2020 was postponed by a year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of countries and companies have built pavilions in three themed areas called Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. These are located in Expo's Dubai South site.
Results
2-15pm: Commercial Bank Of Dubai – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Al Habash, Patrick Cosgrave (jockey), Bhupat Seemar (trainer)
2.45pm: Al Shafar Investment – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Day Approach, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
3.15pm: Dubai Real estate Centre – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Celtic Prince, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly
3.45pm: Jebel Ali Sprint by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Khuzaam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Shadwell – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Tenbury Wells, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Jebel Ali Stakes by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
5.15pm: Jebel Ali Racecourse – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Rougher, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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.”
SHALASH%20THE%20IRAQI
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Shalash%3Cbr%3ETranslator%3A%20Luke%20Leafgren%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20352%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20And%20Other%20Stories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
The%20Beekeeper
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Ayer%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJason%20Statham%2C%20Josh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Emmy%20Raver-Lampman%2C%20Minnie%20Driver%2C%20Jeremy%20Irons%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
Super Rugby play-offs
Quarter-finals
- Hurricanes 35, ACT 16
- Crusaders 17, Highlanders 0
- Lions 23, Sharks 21
- Chiefs 17, Stormers 11
Semi-finals
Saturday, July 29
- Crusaders v Chiefs, 12.35pm (UAE)
- Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
