The eye-catching Russian pavilion, with multicoloured metallic lights wrapped closely around the structure, will make it one of the stand-out structures at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Vibrant shades on the aluminium and steel tubes will change colour by day and night and organisers hope the unusual architecture will draw visitors to explore the three-storey unit.
Architect Sergei Tchoban said the silhouette will transform at night when LED lights are trained on it.
It’s like you are inside a toy matryoshka – a traditional Russian stacking doll
Sergei Tchoban
In the the daytime, the sunshine will reflect on the tubes and constantly alter the pavilion’s contours.
“People will see a structure that moves. It’s like a road around you – darker lines will make the silhouette slimmer and lighter lines will make the silhouette wider. It will seem movable," he said.
“The metal lines have different colours, so with your imagination the montage will look different.”
Echoing the concept of the famous Russian matryoshka wooden stacking dolls, the interior design is modelled on a similar concept, with a small entrance leading to a much wider space within.
Mr Tchoban said he built on the traditional theme where one form is placed inside the other. Visitors will enter a seven-metre space and then move into an area that expands to more than double the space.
“Outside you will not realise how deep is the space inside,” he said. “It’s like you are inside a toy matryoshka.”
The pavilion also aims to convey Russia's strength in diversity.
“The idea is to show how in Russia there are many nationalities, religions, groups living, working together and looking to the future," he said.
“Dubai is also such a place, where many nationalities live successfully together.”
Located in the Expo’s Mobility District – one of three theme zones – the pavilion attempts to convey a sense of movement and agility.
“We would like to show speed in all areas of Russian development, in science, medicine and the speed of innovation,” Mr Tchoban said.
Russian officials said the pavilion will double as a platform for business discussions to forge new connections.
Alexey Gruzdev, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, during a visit in April spoke of the pavilion’s motto, Creative Mind: Driving the Future.
“We are working on a diverse programme of business and cultural events for Expo 2020 in Dubai, which will not only open the theme but will also give millions of visitors a chance to discover Russia’s latest achievements in manufacturing, science, technology and art,” he said.
Organisers released information about programmes planned over the six-month World Fair.
Victoria Lopyreva, a former Miss Russia, will host a matryoshka festival in October to introduce the public to Russian music, fashion and culture.
Recently appointed an ambassador of the Russian pavilion, Ms Lopyreva said the Expo is “a symbol of economic recovery and restoration of relations after the world’s lockdown”.
She described Expo as an opportunity for the business community to agree on new projects leading to more jobs and investments.
“I am happy to join the team of organisers of the Russian pavilion to draw the maximum attention to the success of our country, to show true Russia – bright, friendly and creative. It is important to imagine a new generation of professionals – brave and progressive,” she said in an Instagram post.
A children’s festival will feature the pavilion’s mascot, the Fixies, from a popular animated television series. The programme is about miniature people who mend machines and hopes to encourage children to develop a deeper interest in science and technology.
Russian ballerinas and principal dancers from Moscow’s famous Bolshoi Theatre will also perform during Expo.
The pavilion will host an amateur chess tournament to coincide with the World Chess Championship that is scheduled to take place in November at Expo, to get chess lovers and the larger community involved.
Expo 2020 was postponed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic but was allowed to keep the name.
About 25 million visits are expected for the Expo, which will be held in the Dubai South district.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Record breaker
- The most total field goals made in NBA history, as well as the most consecutive games scoring 10 or more points
- The only player in NBA history to reach 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
- Four-time regular season MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP
- Six-time NBA All-Defensive selection. Rookie of the Year in 2004
- The most All-NBA selections with 21 in a row, including a record 13 first team selections
- The most consecutive All-Star selections with 21
- The only player to play alongside his son; Bronny James was chosen by the Lakers in the 2024 NBA draft
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What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
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