The dismantling of pavilions at the Expo 2020 Dubai site has begun in earnest.
Some country pavilions, such as those of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India, will remain, while others have begun taking down exhibits and started the process of packing up installations, technology equipment and plants for recycling and reuse.
Among the many is the Netherlands pavilion, which is being hailed as the perfect example of circular construction, with many of its elements being reused or rehomed in the coming months.
The pavilion structure was built without concrete, with its entire foundation instead based on steel plates.
Pavilion organisers leased 2,000 tonnes of steel sheet piles and 18-metre tubes that made up the roof, which will be returned to companies in the UAE to be used in future construction projects.
The plan from the drawing board stage was for the plot to be left as it was received in 2018 — an empty piece of desert land.
“Our legacy is to give back to nature and leave the land as we found it,” Carel Richter, the Netherlands consul general and pavilion commissioner told The National.
“Our physical footprint will be minimal. Our story about creating a sustainable future continues.”
Mushrooms to sprout in Dubai warehouse
A giant cone blanketed with edible plants, cress and mushrooms formed the centrepiece of the Netherlands pavilion.
A mushroom farm housed inside the cone, which showed how herbs and food could grow in the desert, has been bought by a UAE entrepreneur.
During the six months of Expo, people queued up to see a structure that captured energy from the sun and extracted moisture from the air to make it rain in the desert.
Large oyster mushrooms were placed inside the darkened interior of the towering cone covered with plants.
The mushroom farm nurtured inside the pavilion will find a new home in a Dubai warehouse.
Dima Al Srouri, a UAE urban planner who is passionate about growing produce locally, purchased the system from Dutch suppliers.
“We have a disconnect from food systems. People don’t know where food comes from and we feel that they would get excited if they know the process and see how it’s grown,” said Ms Al Srouri, a lecturer at Abu Dhabi’s Sorbonne University.
“That gives a lot of trust in the product and people feel connected to their food.
“The Expo was a great platform that connected like-minded people to explore sustainable solutions.”
Harvesting equipment, including mixing machines, shelves and containers with hundreds of oyster mushrooms, are being placed in a container at the Expo site before being transported to the warehouse, the location of which has yet to be revealed.
Ms Al Srouri has plans for a summer opening of the repurposed farm that will sell to restaurants and be used as an educational facility.
Similar to what was done in the Dutch pavilion, some of the mushrooms will be used in mycelium products, a biodegradable fungus-based substance used in building material.
The floor tiles and wall panels in the pavilion's lounge were all made from mycelium.
“It will not be just oyster mushrooms, there will be other mushrooms and mycelium products and we will be collaborating with other entities on this,” Ms Al Srouri said.
“It’s a circular economy model where we are reusing instead of throwing away. We are looking at designing the farm with lots of reused material from the pavilion.
“So it’s a memory and the legacy of the pavilion will actually stay with us.”
Steel roof and floors to be reused
In line with its strategy to keep the pavilion's ecological footprint as small as possible, all installations — even the lift that was leased — will be reused.
“The Netherlands pavilion is our very first building that will be dismantled and we are proud of that,” said Michiel Raaphorst, co-founder of V8 Architects, the pavilion designers.
“We chose to use local materials since the Expo is a temporary event and to return the materials after Expo closed its doors.”
Lighting fixtures and furniture are being donated to a charity organisation in Dubai.
The floor was made from local sand and gravel with leased prefabricated pavement mats.
These will be lifted, dismantled and returned to suppliers for use as temporary pavements elsewhere in the city.
Sheet piles for the walls and steel tubes on the roof will be taken back by Meever & Meever, a Dutch steel company, for reusing in construction projects in Dubai.
More than 9,000 herbs and plants on the towering cone will be returned to the local supplier to be turned into compost. A local greenhouse will reuse the irrigation systems and the long hoses will be recycled.
A system that harvested hundreds of litres of water daily from moisture in the air will be shipped back to the Netherlands for use in new projects.
Solar panels on the roof were also leased locally and are being installed elsewhere in the city.
Talks are continuing about the use of organic and transparent photovoltaic panels that were designed by an award-winning Dutch designer.
In line with the aim of the world’s fair, organisers were committed to sharing knowledge.
“Leaving behind an empty plot and making sure the materials are reused or repurposed is in fact the essence of a circular approach: to use materials for the remainder of their lifespan,” Mr Raaphorst said.
“The pavilion is as such a blueprint for circular construction.”
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
From exhibitions to the battlefield
In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.
It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.
It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.
It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.5-litre%20V12%20and%20three%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C015hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C500Nm%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eight-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Early%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh2%20million%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
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Biog
Age: 50
Known as the UAE’s strongest man
Favourite dish: “Everything and sea food”
Hobbies: Drawing, basketball and poetry
Favourite car: Any classic car
Favourite superhero: The Hulk original
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPOPC%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAmna%20Aijaz%2C%20Haroon%20Tahir%20and%20Arafat%20Ali%20Khan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eart%20and%20e-commerce%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%20u%3C%2Fstrong%3Endisclosed%20amount%20raised%20through%20Waverider%20Entertainment%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km