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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.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
England v South Africa Test series:
First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs
Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs
Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31
Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Australia
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South Korea
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
FIGHT%20CARD
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
