Expo 2020: UK Pavilion will show best of British all inside a giant horn

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The UK has a 170-year Expo heritage but its pavilion in Dubai promises to write a new chapter in history and is the nation’s first designed by a woman.

Creativity and poetry are at the heart of the building’s concept by British designer Es Devlin, which resembles a giant horn.

Visitors can view poems lit up in LEDs on an enormous facade every minute of the day.

Everyone is invited, and that is the Britain that I knew growing up, so there is common ground

Es Devlin,
UK Pavilion designer

“Being the first woman to design a pavilion, I felt the extra weight of responsibility on my shoulders,” said Ms Devlin, 50.

“It is difficult to express your country inside a building or sculpture.

“Someone told me when I was growing up there is no such thing as society, just the individual. The opposite is true today and we are all collectives."

Everyone who steps into the building will become part of its creation, Ms Devlin said. The pavilion’s design has been five years in the making, with work commencing in October 2019.

Visitors to donate words

The UK Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site. Photo: Alin Constantin

In a concept inspired by scientist Stephen Hawking, visitors to the UK pavilion will be invited to donate a word they feel describes humanity or life on Earth.

Advanced AI technology will use these words to generate poetic couplets that will combine to create a collective message. Ms Devlin has been working with AI experts in California for five years, to develop and train an algorithm to develop poetry.

The first word ‘dignity' has been entered by Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation and director general of Expo 2020.

More than 100 British poets have already contributed some 15,000 poems to the project.

“The horn is like a call to action, and invites everyone to gather within it," said Ms Devlin.

“The words of visitors will become part of a collective poem.”

The cone-shaped 20-metre pavilion has rows of protruding slats that extend outward to form the circular facade.

“As you enter visitors will hear a soundscape from voices from all across the UK, including choirs from Norwich and Bradford, and sea shanties from the coast," said Ms Devlin.

“Everyone is invited, and that is the Britain that I knew growing up, so there is common ground.”

Another theme of the UK pavilion is innovating for a shared future, connecting man, mind and machines.

The visitor journey will include a maze of aspiration, a choral space, a facade for displays and a restaurant and bar called 1851, named in recognition of London’s first Expo event.

A UK business programme from October 22 will take a look into the future by exploring everything from fashion, food, how we will live and learn and what we will create in the years to come.

The future of travel is another key topic in a week of events from November 9.

Speakers lined up over the coming months include former politician Dr Tristram Hunt, now director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, actor Robert Llewellyn, winner of the 2018 Global Teacher Prize Andria Zafirakou and president of AstraZeneca UK Tom Keith-Roach.

A number of state visits are also planned with leading politicians and ministers over the course of the next six months.

Fly-past

The Red Arrows aerobatic display team will represent the UK at Expo 2020 Dubai with a spectacular 20-minute display and fly-past to celebrate the first week of the event at 4pm on October 8.

The UK’s national day will be celebrated with a special show on February 10.

“Expo is an amazing concept of the world in one place,” said commissioner general of the UK pavilion Laura Faulkner.

“We are reimagining relationships with the rest of the world in new trade agreements and partnerships with businesses and in education.

“It will be like staging a Davos every day and a Glastonbury every night.

“We hope the ripples started at Expo will be felt for many years to come.”

Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team the Red Arrows - in pictures

Key findings

Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.

How it works

Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.

Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.

As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.

A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.

Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.

The%20Kitchen

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Tamkeen's offering

Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
Option 2: 50% across three years
Option 3: 30% across five years

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.

Types of bank fraud

1) Phishing

Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

2) Smishing

The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

3) Vishing

The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

4) SIM swap

Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

5) Identity theft

Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

6) Prize scams

Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

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RESULTS

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Winner Meshakel, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)

7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m

Winner Gervais, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m

Winner Global Heat, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.

8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner Firnas, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m

Winner Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m

Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m

Winner Wasim, Mickael Barzalona, Ismail Mohammed.

While you're here

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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
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